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TE    IKA  A  MAUI, 


OR 


NEW    ZEALAND  AND   ITS   INHABITANTS, 


IXXUSTBATIKO    THE 


ORIGIN,    MANNERS,    CUSTOMS,    MYTHOLOGY,    RELIGION,    RITES, 
SONGS,   PROVERBS,   FABLES,   AND    LANGUAGE    OP 

THE  NATIVES. 


TOGXTHSS    WITH    THB 

GEOLOGY,  NATURAL  HISTORY,  PRODUCTIONS,  AND  CLIMATE 

OF  THE  COUNTRY ; 

ITS    STATE    AS    REGARDS    CHRISTIANITY; 

SKETCHES    OF   THE    PRINCIPAL   CHIEFS,    AND    THEIR    PRESENT    POSITION; 

SRU^  a  Pap,  nxib  numtnms  |Uu5traiions. 


BT    TOE 


REV.  RICHARD  TAYLOR,  M.A.,  F.G.S., 

MANY    TEARS   A    MISSION  ART    IN    NEW   ZEALAND. 


LONDON: 
WERTHEIM  AND  MACINTOSH,  24,  PATERNOSTER-ROW. 

MDCCCLV. 


i.okdok: 

WBRTHRIM    AND  If  ArillTOfllt , 
PATBrnWOSTBR-HOW. 


i 


TO   THE   RIGHT   HONORABLE 

THE    EARL    OF     CHICHESTER, 

PBKSIOEKT  OP  THE  CIIDBCH  MISnONABT  SOCirrr, 

Ac,  Ac,  Ax. 


\ 


0 


l^ 


t 


My  Lord, 

Having  labored  many  years  in  New 
Zealand  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  and  there  acquired  the  information  here 
presented  to  the  Public,  I  cannot  more  appropriately 
dedicate  this  Work  to  any  one  than  to  your  Lordship, 
who  has  so  long  and  worthily  filled  the  high  office 
of  its  President.  With  sentiments  of  great  respect^ 
therefore,  I  beg  to  do  so,  and  subscribe  myself, 

Your  Lordship's 


v>>  Most  humble  and  obedient  Servant, 


THE  AUTHOR. 


London, 

November,  1855. 


151519 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  Te  Ika  a  Maui  to  the  Public,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  commence  with  saying,  that  tliis  was 
formerly  the  only  name  which  the  Natives  had  for  the 
Island,  and  that  it  is  nearly  identical  with  that  which 
Cook  first  received ;  being  literally  The  Fisn  of  Maui, 
the  Maori  creator,  who  first  drew  up  this  second  Britain 
"  from  out  the  azure  main." 

The  name  of  New  Zealand  has  succeeded  it ;  and 
it  seems  a  pity  that  so  noble  an  appendage  of  the 
British  Crown,  which  has  been  gained,  not  by  the 
power  of  our  arms,  but  by  the  voluntary  consent  of 
its  inhabitants,  solely  through  the  influence  of  the 
Gospel,  should  still  retain  so  unmeaning  a  name, 
which  was  not  even  given  by  the  first  discoverer. 
The  good  taste  of  the  present  age  has  re-named  the 
neighbouring  Continent  and  its  attendant  Isle.    Van 


VI  PREFACE. 

Dienien  8  Land  and  New  Holland  will  soon  be  obso- 
lete names,  being  supplanted  by  the  more  euphonious 
ones  of  Australia  and  Tasmania.  Why  should  not 
New  Zealand,  also,  be  re-named? — why  not  call  it 
Austral-Britain,  Australbion,  or  something  similar? 
The  present  name  is  about  as  appropriate  as  those 
given  to  the  provinces  into  which  the  first  Governor 
divided  the  country — Ulster,  Munster,  Leinster,  and 
Connaught.  They  have  been  blotted  out,  so  let  this 
also.     Thus  much  for  the  name. 

Next,  with  regard  to  the  Work  itself.  The  Author's 
aim  has  been  to  rescue  from  that  oblivion  into  which 
they  were  fast  hastening,  the  Manners,  Customs,  Tra- 
ditions, and  Religion  of  a  primitive  race  :  already  the 
remembrance  of  them  is  rapidly  being  forgotten ;  the 
rising  generation  being  almost  as  unacquainted  with 
them  as  our  Settlers  in  general.  The  Traditions  of  the 
Creation  are  now  first  presented  to  the  Public.  The 
late  Governor  Sir  G.  Grey  has  published  a  valuable 
collection  of  general  Traditions,  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  one  has  previously  collected  any  of  those 
here  given,  and  few,  indeed,  could  have  done  so,  unless 
intimately  conversant  with  the  language  and  people. 
The  natural  features  of  the  Islands  are  also  described, 
and  the  Author,  being  a  resident  before  it  became 


PREFACE.  VU 


an  English  Colony,  was  enabled  to  watch  the  various 
changes  it  has  successively  passed  through.  Its  present 
position,  and  its  eligibility  as  a  home  for  intending 
Emigrants,  are  also  described ;  but,  in  pointing  out 
its  advantages,  he  has  not  wilfully  concealed  any 
of  its  contraries.  The  Colony  is  now  rapidly  in- 
creasing in  population  and  stability;  it  possesses  a 
constitution,  and  though,  perhaps,  sufficient  time  has 
not  yet  elapsed  to  make  all  its  benefits  manifest, 
doubtless  in  a  few  years  the  economical  management 
of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  disinterestedness  of  its 
officers,  wiU  win  for  them  the  esteem  and  admiration 
of  their  fellow-colonists,  and  succeeding  ages  will  regard 
them  as  the  patriot  fathers  of  their  country. 

The  Author  would  here  acknowledge  the  obligation 
he  is  under  in  the  Natural  History  department  to 
Cunningham,  Dr.  Hooker,  Dr.  Grey,  and  his  coad- 
jutors in  the  British  Museum.  The  Illustrations,  he 
may  state,  are  all  from  sketches  taken  by  himself  on 
the  spot,  and  have  at  any  rate  the  merit  of  being 
faithful  drawings  of  the  various  objects  they  represent. 
And  with  the  hope  that  Te  Ika  a  Maui  will  not 
prove  altogether  uninteresting  to  the  Public,  the 
Author  takes  his  leave. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  TAQt 

Introduction 1 

CHAPTER  II. 
Mythology 1*2 

CHAPTER  III. 
Mythology  (eontiniied) 32 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Tapu 66 

CHAPTER  V. 

Whare-Kura. — Religious  Worship. — ^Native  Baptism. — War  Ceremonies      66 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Fishing  Ceremonies. — Manner  of  Hunting  the  Rat. — Witchcraft. — Niu. 

— Cursing. — Kura— Red 83 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Customs  Relating  to  the  Dead Reinga 97 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Tinirau. — Traditions  of  Matnku  and  Witi ;  of  Kupe;  of  Kupe  and  Turi ; 

of  Nga  Hni ;  of  Tama  Te  Kapua ;  and  of  Lake  Mapere Original 

Canoes 107 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Wakatauki,  or  ProTerbs. — Fables 126 

CHAPTER  X. 

Songs. — Mottoes 138 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Personal  Ornaments. — Moko,  or  Tattoo. — Mokai — Names    .  .148 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Dreams. — Marriage. — Polygamy. — Children. — Eating — ^llakari   .        .    160 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII.  rAOE 

Amusements. — Time 171 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Origin,  as  traced  by   Language Affinity  of  Words —Monosyllabic 

Roots 179 

CHAPTER  XV. 

HUtory 2(H 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Oeology  of  New  Zealand.— A  Visit  to  Roto-Mahana  .219 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Climate. — Healthiness. — Population. — Fire-arms. — Emigration  261 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Natiye  Chiefs. — Pre-emption 270 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Samuel  Marsden 281 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Church 300 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Hongi — Tareha— Te  Heuheu 309 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Te  Rauparaha  and  Rangihaeata 323 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Hone  Heke  — Tapouka. — Mamaku  — Manihera  and  Kereopa. — Andrew 

Powers — Jackson's  Story 342 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Means  of  Support — Land. — Houses. — ^Native  Oyens. — Pua,  or  Bread  .    377 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Natural  History — Mammalia ;  Birds ;  Fish ;  Shells ;  Insects  .    394 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Botany 430 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 
Hints  to  intended  Emigrants 458 

APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF  ENGRAVINGS  AND  VIGNETTES. 


PACK 

Bfap  of  the  New  Zealand  Islands. 

Town  of  Wanganui To  face  Title 

The  Geysers  of  Orakokorako To  face  224 

The  Old  Priest  of  Waikowau,  West  Coast 1 

The  Monument  of  Reretawangawanga,  the  Chief  of  Waikanae  II 

Crying  for  the  Dead 12 

A  Mere  Mere 31 

The  Tomb  of  Heuheu 32 

A  Memorial  Idol  of  a  Chief  slain  in  battle 64 

A  tapaed  Chief  eating  with  a  Fern-stalk 55 

A  Chief  praying  to  his  God,  and  a  Memorial  Idol        ....  62 

The  Church  at  Otake,  on  the  Manganui-a-te-ao 65 

Basket,  with  Gods 82 

Waingaroa  Harbour 83 

Carved  Box 96 

A  View  of  the  Reinga 97 

The  Carving  on  a  Tomb 106 

The  Pa  of  Te  Arero,  on  the  Manga-nui-a-te-ao 107 

The  Prow  of  a  War  Canoe 126 

Manganui-a-te-ao,  a  Tributary  of  the  Wanganui          ....  126 
He  Tata,  or  Tiheni — A  Water-scoop  for  a  Canoe                                 .137 

A  Fishing  Hut 138 

He  Roauau,  or  Musical  Pipe 147 

A  Tattooed  Head 148 

He  Waka  Paparauga  rakau,  or  Geneological  Board    ....  159 

Hikurangi,  taking  leave  of  Friends 160 

A  Papa,  or  Carved  Dish 170 

Preparing  Canoe  for  Sea      .        , 171 

The  Burial-place  at  Puke  Tapu  Atenc,  on  the  Wanganui  .179 


ff 


■  • 


XU  BNGRAVINGS   AND  VIGNETTES. 

PAOI 

He  Pareare,  a  Sandal  or  Snow-shoe 203 

Motu  Taiko,  a  small  Island  in  Lake  Taupo 204 

He  Hern,  or  Comb 218 

Wairake,  Boiling  Springs  near  Taupo 219 

A  Sketch  near  Wangape,  on  the  North*  West  Coast     ....  239 

A  Limestone  Care  at  Pukemapau 243 

He  Meremere  Ponnamu  (pr&tented  to  the  Queen)         ....  244 

Roto-Mahana,  the  Warm  Lake 245 

Cooking  at  a  Boiling  Spring 260 

Night  Encampment 261 

Forest  Scenery 253 

A  Ko,  or  NatiTe  Spade 268 

Auckland 269 

The  Boulder  Bank  Harbour,  Nelson 265 

Mount  Taranakiy  or  Egmont,  from  Ware  atea 269 

The  Kiri  Kin  Station,  Bay  of  Islands 270 

He  Papa,  or  Carred  Box 280 

The  Mission-houto  and  Pa  at  Wanganui,  from  the  Care  in  the  Cliff    .  281 

A  Taiaha,  or  Chief 's  Staff 299 

A  Native  School 300 

He  Whare  Puni,  or  Warm  House 308 

Wangaroa  Harbour               309 

Monument  of  Te  Heuheu,  at  Pukawa,  Taupo 319 

He  Kokoti^  an  Ancient  Weapon  of  War 322 

A  Waterfall  at  Papa-roa,  on  the  Wanganui 323 

A  Frame  to  deposit  Corpses  in  until  decomposed 341 

Atene,  or  Oawitu,  a  Village  on  the  Wanganui 342 

A  Memorial  Idol 376 

An  Ornamental  Food-store 377 

A  Rata  Tree 393 

Care  near  the  Mouth  of  the  Mokau 394 

The  Araara 410 

A  Vegetating  Locust 421 

Vegetating  Caterpillars 426 

Repe  Repe — Callorynchus  Australis 429 

A  New  Plant,  Fam.  Balanophonea)  (?) 430 

Hine  Moa,  Basaltic  Fohnation  on  the  Kaingaroa  Road,  in  the  Interior  468 


COLORED   PLATES. 


irL,A 

iiii  1. 

No. 

Hepialos  rubro-yiridans            ......              1 

Pari  kori  taua,  Erebus,  (new  species,)  upper  and  under  side. 

2 

Dianthecia  pictula         ...... 

3 

Hepialus 

4 

Ditto  (female)    . 

6 

Hepialus  vireseens 

6 

Geometridous,  (new  species.)    . 

7 

Geometridous,  (male  ditto) 

8 

Cidaria  sp :        . 

9 

Pterophoms  sp : 

10 

Ptychopoda  sp : 

11 

Nyctemera  Doubledayi. 

k                                      • 

1 

12 

Sphinx,  conyolyuli 

13 

PLATE  II. 

Vanessa  Gonerilla.        .......              1 

Vanessa  Itea,  (upper  and  under  side.) 

2 

Polyommatus  Edna,  (male.) 

3 

Polyommatos  Edna,  (female.)   . 

4 

Cynthia  Cardui 

5 

Cidaria  sp :        . 

6 

Prionoplus  reticularis   . 

7 

Nemocephalus  barbicomis  Brentus 

8 

A  fresh-water  crab,  (natural  size.) 

9 

Ancistropterus  quadri  spinosus. 

10 

Scolopterus  sp : 

11 

PLATE  III. 

Helix  Busby i,  (Gray.)  .......              1 

Bulimns  Shongi,  Lesson   . 

•                                       • 

2 

Physa    ..... 

•                                      • 

3 

Melanopsis  Zealandee,  (Gould.) 

•                                      • 

4 

Phyllida             .... 

• 

6 

Anateira            .... 

• 

6 

CX)LORED   PLATES. 


PLATE  IV. 


XIV 

Latea  neritoides 
GUciTirida 
Comiforma 
Amnicola  oiliata 


Freycinetia  Pirori  Banksii       .  .  ,  . 

Flower  of  ditto,  Tawera.  .  .  .  . 

PLATE  V. 

Passiflora  tetrandra,  (Kowia,) 

Metrosideros  buxifolia,  {Aka )  .  .  . 

Aseroe  mbra,  {Neinei.)  .  .  .  . 

Podocarpua  dacrydioides,  (Kahikatea.) 

Piper  Excelsumi  {Kawa  kaufa.) 

Heodictyon  cibarimn,  (Kopura  wetu,  Paru  toafattrt.) 

Innominata        ...... 

PLATE  VL 

Nestor  meredionalisy  (Kaka,  Kordko.) 
Apterix  Australis,  {Kiwi,) 
Anthomis  melanura  {Kokorimako,) 
Strigops  habroptilus,  (Kakapo,) 
Creadion  caronculata,  (Titki ) . 
Ptilotis  cincta,  {Bihi,  kotihe.)  . 

PLATE  VII. 

Spatula  rhyncbotiB,  (Kuruengo.)  , 

Ortygometra  affinis,  (Popotai.) 

Ortygometra  taboensis,  (Moho  piriru.) 

Endynamis  Taitensis,  (Kohoperoa.) 

Petroica  toi  toi,  (Afiro  miro.)  . 

Platycercus  N0T8B  Zea:  (Kakariki,  Pouwaitere.) 

PLATE  Vin. 

Porphyrio  melanotisy  (Pakura,  pukeko.) 
Himantopus  NoTse  Zea :  (  Torea,  Taupo) 
Herodias  flayirostris,  (Kottiku.) 
Hymenolaimus  malacorhynchus,  (blue  duck,)  ( Wio.) 
Hatteria  Punctata,  (Tuatara,  Tuatete  ) 
Naultinus  elegans,  (Kakariki.) 


No. 
t 
8 

9 
12 


1 
2 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 


7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 


13 

14 
15 
16 

17 
18 


TE    IKA    A    MAUI, 
NEW   ZEALAND   AND    ITS    INHABITANTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTROKUOTION. 

Civilized  man  is  too  apt  to  look  down  upon  the  more  unen> 
lightened  portion  of  hia  race  as  belonging  to  an  inferior  order 
of  beings;  ignorance  or  interest  ha^  given  riae  to  man; 
calumnies  against  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  remote  lands, 
especially  against  those  who  differ  Jrom  us  in  color.  It  be- 
comes a  sufficient  plea  with  those  who  regard  themselves  of 


)i  IXTRODUCnON. 

the  higher  race  to  depress  and  destroy  the  inferior.  This  has 
been  the  fruitful  cause  of  the  greatest  enormities :  man  has 
treated  his  fellow  men  as  beasts  of  the  field,  and  has  bought 
and  sold  them  as  such :  it  is  only  in  the  present  generation 
that  an  effort  has  been  made  to  efface  this  blot  on  our  boasted 
civilization,  and  even  yet  the  Anglo-American  Christian 
maintains  its  lawfulness.  Whole  races  of  aborigines  have 
disappeared ;  they  have  not  been  considered  as  entitled  to  hold 
their  own  inheritance.  The  entire  continent  of  America  was 
taken  away  from  its  inhabitants  and  solemnly  bestowed  by  the 
Roman  Pontiff*,  on  those  who  went  to  plunder  and  destroy 
them ;  and  even  in  our  own  colonies,  how  much  have  we  to 
blush  for  !  The  Australian  has  been  shot  and  poisoned  and 
plundered  of  his  lands ;  the  Tasmanian  was  hunted  with  dogs 
and  exterminated,  and  that  too  by  the  authority  of  govern- 
ment itself.  In  New  Zealand,  there  is  little  doubt  something 
similar  would  have  taken  place,  if  the  natives  had  not  been  too 
numerous,  too  warlike,  and  too  intelligent  to  be  thus  dealt 
with;  otherwise  the  order  to  seize  all  their  waste  lauds,  as 
they  were  styled,  would  doubtless  have  been  attempted ;  but 
even  these  qualifications  would  have  been  of  little  avail,  had 
not  the  Almighty  cast  his  shield  over  them  as  a  portion  of  the 
household  of  faith. 

To  raise  a  better  and  more  correct  view,  of  those  commonly 
regarded  as  savages,  we  must  have  a  more  perfect  acquaintance 
with  them,  and  the  more  intimate  this  is,  the  more  readily  shall 
we  allow  their  claims  to  brotherhood,  and  feel  assured,  from 
whatever  causes  they  have  fallen  into  their  present  degraded 
state,  that  it  is  not  their  natural  one,  but  the  effect  of  various 
untoward  circumstances,  which  have  combined,  gradually  to 
sink  them,  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  position ;  and  when  tbose 
causes  are  removed,  they  will  again  rise  to  their  former  stand- 
ing, and  rank  with  the  most  favored  sections  of  the  human 
family. 

As  our  knowledge  of  these  aboriginal  races  increases,  and 
we  become  acquainted  vdth  their  language,  manners,  and 
customs,  we  find  that  they  possess  mind  as  well  as  ourselves, 
and  only  want  similar  advantages  to  obtain  an  equal  enlarge- 


INTRODUCTION.  6 

ment  of  it.  Our  ideas  are  so  different  from  those  of  these 
primitive  and  isolated  people,  that  theirs  may  seem  at  first  to 
betoken  an  inferiority  of  mind ;  but  when  we  can  enter  into 
the  causes,  which  have  operated  in  producing  that  difference, 
we  must  allow  the  result  to  have  been  quite  natural. 

Philosophically  viewing  the  subject,  we  should  find  that  even 
the  Australian,  who  has  been  classed  in  the  lowest  grade,  and 
been  viewed  as  more  closely  allied  to  the  brute  than  to  the 
human  species,  possesses  mind,  ingenuity,  contrivance,  and 
perfection  too,  in  his  way,  far  beyond  what  might  be  expected ; 
and  that  were  we  to  place  one  of  our  own  laborers,  or  even  a 
more  enlightened  member  of  society,  in  a  similar  position,  it 
would  be  a  long  time  before  he  could  attain,  an  equal  degree 
of  knowledge,  in  any  of  those  arts,  which  are  needful  for  the 
support  of  life. 

This  is  no  fanciful  assertion.  How  many  instances  have  we 
of  shipwrecked  mariners  being  cast  on  uninhabited  islands, 
who,  deprived  of  everything,  have  not  shown  any  of  their 
ingenuity,  in  procuring  food  and  raiment ;  and  when  in  similar 
circumstances  they  have  been  cast  amongst  savages,  have  in 
general  sunk  even  below  their  level.  .  Excepting  perhaps  the 
backwoodsman  of  America,  few  would  feel  themselves  equal  to 
supply  their  necessities,  when  their  usual  means  of  support 
were  suddenly  cut  off.  Travellers  in  countries  like  Australia 
or  New  Zealand,  where  all  the  comforts  of  civilized  life  are 
wanting,  well  know  how  apt  they  are  to  forget  the  proprieties 
of  society,  and  how  readily  they  fall  into  the  habits  of  the 
native  ;  the  customs  of  domestic  life  become  irksome,  and  are 
abandoned ;  the  squalid  filth  of  those  who  have  made  a  long 
journey,  is  often  far  beyond  that  of  the  natives;  but  in  obtain- 
ing food,  how  far  is  the  boasted  member  of  civilized  life, 
behind  the  despised  savage.  The  native  of  New  Holland  not 
only  knows  where  to  look  for  it,  but  how  to  obtain  it ;  he  can 
fabricate  from  the  raw  materials  of  the  wilderness,  the  proper 
snare  or  net ;  he  can  make  his  spear  and  use  it  with  unfailing 
success,  and  barren  and  unproductive  as  his  country  appears 
to  us,  in  furnishing  natural  food,  it  has  a  sufficiency  for  those 
who  know  how  to  find  and  take  it.    There  are  several  instances 

B  2 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

recorded  of  convicts,  who  have  made  their  escape  and  fled  to 
the  woods,  with  the  idea  that  they  could  reach  China  overland ; 
many  of  them,  being  utterly  unable  to  procure  food,  have 
returned  and  given  themselves  up  to  the  authorities,  and 
others  have  killed  one  another,  to  eke  out  their  miserable 
existence ;  and,  after  all,  been  compelled  to  surrender  them- 
selves up  from  extreme  want. 

If,  under  such  circumstances,  the  native  has  been  enabled  to 
find  support,  where  the  European  could  not — and  the  preser- 
vation of  life  is  the  first  principle  implanted  in  the  human 
mind — we  may  safely  conclude  he  is  not  deficient  in  mind. 
But  how  much  more  is  this  the  case  with  the  New  Zealander. 
Some  few  years  ago,  the  Governor  caused  a  Settlers'  Journey 
along  the  west  coast  of  the  Middle  Island  to  be  published  in 
the  Government  Gazette :  this  settler,  accompanied  by  several 
natives,  was  absent  nearly  two  years ;  during  that  period 
all  his  own  stock  failed,  and  for  many  weeks  he  was  entirely 
dependent  on  the  natives  for  the  supply  of  his  commissariat: 
had  they  not  known  where  and  how  to  procure  food  in  that 
uninhabited  part,  the  entire  party  must  have  perished.* 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  civilization.  With  us 
society  is  divided  to  an  indefinite  extent ;  one  is  brought  up 
in  one  useful  art,  and  another  in  another ;  with  few  exceptions 
there  are  none  who  can  turn  their  hands  to  any  other,  than  their 
own  peculiar  calling.  The  New  Zealander,  on  the  contrary, 
is  acquainted  with  every  department  of  knowledge,  common 
to  his  race :  he  can  build  his  house,  he  can  make  his  canoe, 
his  nets,  his  hooks,  his  lines;  he  can  manufacture  snares  to 
suit  every  bird ;  he  can  form  his  traps  for  the  rat ;  he  can 
fabricate  his  garments,  and  every  tool  and  implement  he 
requires,  whether  for  agriculture  or  war ;  he  can  make  orna- 
ments of  ivory  or  of  the  hardest  stone,  and  these  too  with  the 
most  simple  and  apparently  unsuitable  instruments,  sawing  his 
ivory  without  loss,  with  a  muscle-shell,  and  his  hard  green 
jade  stone  one  piece  with  another,  with  only  the  addition  of  a 

♦  See  Brenner*8  Journal  of  Expedition  along  the  West  Coatt  of  the  Middle 
Tsland  of  New  Zealand. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

little  sand  and  water ;  and  all  these  works,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, he  could  accomplish  without  the  aid  of  iron,  which  was 
unknown  before  Cook's  time.  It  was  not  a  single  individual 
or  a  few  that  were  adepts  in  these  various  arts,  but  every  one. 
The  implements  they  made,  they  also  knew  how  to  use  ;  they 
could  hunt,  they  could  fish,  they  could  fight.  In  the  battle- 
field they  were  warriors,  in  the  council  they  were  orators  ; 
their  skill  in  military  tactics  has  elicited  the  wonder  of  our 
military  men,  and  their  late  war  with  the  government  has 
done  much  to  raise  them  in  our  estimation.  It  would  be  no 
easy  matter,  to  find  any  European  who,  in  so  many  respects, 
could  equal  the  despised  savage  of  New  Zealand. 

Such  general  knowledge  makes  the  native  at  home  wherever 
he  may  be.  I  have  often  had  opportunities  of  admiring  this; 
when  encamped  with  my  little  party  in  pouring  rain,  I  have 
been  surprised  at  the  short  time  it  took,  to  erect  a  comfortable 
shed  impervious  to  the  rain,  to  produce  fire  by  friction,  to 
find  fuel  and  ignite  it,  to  seek  out  food  and  sit  down  comfort- 
ably to  enjoy  it,  and  this  before  an  European  would  have  made 
up  his  mind  what  to  do.  An  instance  of  this  kind  occurred  some 
years  ago,  when  the  late  Allan  Cunningham,  the  well-known 
botanist  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  was  accompanied  by 
one  of  our  missionaries  on  a  journey  through  a  New  Zea- 
land forest :  whilst  busily  employed  in  examining  its  varied 
productions,  they  allowed  their  natives  to  push  on  to  a  spot 
where  they  usually  encamped,  and  carried  away  by  their  love 
of  nature,  they  did  not  perceive  the  lapse  of  time,  until  they 
were  suddenly  overtaken  by  the  shades  of  night ;  to  make 
their  uncomfortable  position  worse,  it  set  in  rainy ;  to  overtake 
their  companions  was  impossible,  for  such  is  the  gloom  of  New 
Zealand  forests,  and  the  over-grown  ill-defined  tracks  through 
them,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  find  the  way  along  them  in 
the  dark ;  but,  instead  of  trying  to  erect  a  shed,  or  light  a  fire 
in  the  native  style,  what  did  they  do  ?  Just  what  most  Euro- 
peans would  in  similar  circumstances — they  did  nothing  at  all ; 
they  felt  themselves  perfectly  helpless — they  stood  under  a  tree 
the  whole  of  the  night,  without  fire,  without  food,  and  with- 
out shelter.     The  efiects  of  that  night  proved  fatal  to  poor 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

Cunningham ;  he  caught  a  violent  cold,  which  settled  on  his 
lungs,  and  in  a  few  months  brought  him  to  his  grave. 

The  native  is  not  deficient  in  those  arts  which  are  essential 
to  his  comfort.  His  house  is  constructed  with  great  skill  and 
elegance,*  his  garments  with  much  beauty,  and  ornamented 
with  a  border  of  elaborately  wrought  embroidery ;  his  little 
farm  is  tilled  with  the  greatest  care,  not  a  weed  to  be  seen ;  in 
fact  he  has  carried  those  arts  with  which  he  is  acquainted,  to 
as  much  perfection,  as  they  are  apparently  capable  of.  This 
is  not  the  character  of  the  savage.  If,  then,  in  these  respects 
we  cannot  view  him  as  such,  it  must  be  in  his  social  state ; 
their  cruel  and  bloody  wars,  their  cannibal  feasts, — these  mark 
the  savage.  The  truth  cannot  be  concealed,  neither  is  it 
desirable  to  do  so  ;  but  is  not  human  nature  in  its  unrenewed 
state,  much  the  same  everywhere  ?  Are  there  no  European 
savages  as  well  ? 

When  we  consider  the  way  in  which  the  New  Zealanders 
lived,  we  cannot  wonder  at  the  crimes  they  committed.  Shut 
out  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  without  any  to  set  them  a 
pattern  of  what  was  right,  or  to  reprove  what  was  wrong ;  is 
it  surprising,  that  morally  they  should  have  degenerated,  even 
from  the  standard  of  their  forefathers  ?  They  were  not 
always  addicted  to  war,  neither  were  they  always  cannibals ; 
the  remembrance  of  the  origin  of  these  horrid  customs,  is  still 
preserved  amongst  them.  If  the  progressive  development 
doctrine  were  true,  aboriginal  races  should  have  progressively 
advanced ;  every  successive  generation  should  have  added  some 
improvement  to  the  one  which  preceded  it ;  but  such  is  not 
the  case.  A  remarkable  proof  of  this  may  be  adduced  in  the 
fact,  that  the  New  Zealanders  have  retrograded,  even  since  the 
days  of  Captain  Cook ;  they  then  possessed  large  double 
canoes,  decked,  with  houses  on  them,  similar  to  those  of 


*  The  natiyes  rendered  valuable  assistance  in  this  sort  of  work  (building 
houses  for  the  Port  Nicholson  settlers),  at  which  they  were  yory  expert.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  the  huts  built  by  them  were  much  superior  to  those  of 
our  handiwork ;  many  of  them,  indeed,  deserved  to  bo  called  houses,  and 
were,  when  I  quitted  Port  Nicholson,  still  used  by  emigrants  of  all  claases. — 
4th  page  of  Hon,  H,  W,  Petrels  New  Zealand :  Smith,  Elder,  &  Co.,  Lond.  1841. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

Tahaiti  and  Hawaii,  in  which,  traditionally,  some  of  their 
ancestors  came.  It  is  now  nearly  half  a  century  since  the  last 
was  seen.  Tradition  also  states,  that  they  had  finer  garments 
in  former  days,  and  of  different  kinds;  that,  like  their  re- 
puted ancestors,  they  made  cloth  from  the  bark  of  trees ;  the 
name  is  preserved,  but  the  manufacture  has  ceased.  There 
are  remains  also  in  their  language,  wliich  would  lead  us  to 
suppose,  that  like  the  inhabitants  of  Tonga,  they  once  pos- 
sessed a  kingly  form  of  government,  and  though  they  have 
now  no  term  to  express  that  high  officQ,  still  they  have  words, 
which  are  evidently  derived  from  the  very  one  denoting  a  king 
in  Tonga.*  Their  traditions,  which  are  preserved,  also  establish 
the  same  fact,  and  perhaps  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  is  their 
language ;  its  fullness,  its  richness,  its  close  affinity  not  only 
in  words  but  grammar  to  the  Sanscrit,  carry  us  back  to  a 
time  when  literature  could  not  have  been  unknown. 

To  what  then  can  we  refer  their  subsequent  deterioration  ? 
They  tell  us  they  came  from  a  distant  land ;  the  cradle  of  their 
race  was  an  island  of  narrow  limits ;  insufficient  to  maintain 
its  population,  one  portion  thrust  out  the  other:  a  fleet  of 
canoes  left  to  seek  another  habitation  ;  they  met  with  several, 
which,  either  being  too  contracted,  or  being  inhabited  by 
people  averse  to  their  stay,  they  again  embarked,  and  finally 
a  few,  reduced  to  the  greatest  straights,  at  last  reached  New 
Zealand.  These  repeated  emigrations  must  have  diminished 
the  original  stock  of  knowledge ;  like  a  vessel  in  a  storm 
which  is  compelled  to  be  lightened,  the  richest  wares  are 
thrown  overboard,  one  bale  follows  another,  the  least  required 
for  the  preservation  of  life  go  first,  and  those  only  which  are 
essentially  necessary  are  preserved.  Again,  one  tribe  is  driven 
away  by  a  more  powerful  one;  weakened  in  numbers,  and 
disheartened  by  constant  defeats,  it  continually  retires  from 
its  foes,  until,  at  last,  without  means  of  preserving  its  first 
state,  it  sinks  lower  and  lower  in  the  scale  of  existence  :  this 
will  account  for  the  degraded  state  of  the  original  inhabitants 
of  the  Chatham  Isles ;  driven  from  the  mainland,  they  fled  to 

*  The  word  How  in  Tonga  signifies  king ;  in  Maori,  Waka-hau  is  to  command. 


■■  1 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

islands  possessing  few  natural  productions ;  we  cannot,  there- 
fore, wonder,  that  they  should  be  less  advanced  than  the 
natives  who  conquered  them ;  hence  their  inferiority  in  their 
garments,  their  houses,  their  canoes ;  these  latter  are  rudely 
constructed  of  a  frame-work  of  poles,  a  sort  of  wicker-work, 
the  interstices  being  filled  up  with  sea  weed  :  their  houses  are 
miserable  holes  in  the  earth,  roofed  over ;  there  they  sleep 
with  their  children  huddled  up  between  their  naked  thighs  for 
warmth ;  even  the  Maori  call  them  Parakiwara  (black  fellows). 

They  present  an  instance  to  what  a  sad  state  man  may  fall, 
when  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  his  race,  and  mind  is  deprived  of 
the  benefit  of  fellow  mind ;  how  unable  it  is  to  bear  up  against 
such  accumulated  evils ;  how  forcibly  does  such  a  state  remind 
us  of  the  prodigal,  who,  from  being  clothed  in  fine  apparel, 
vrith  a  ring  on  his  finger  and  shoes  on  his  feet,  and  from  being 
fed  with  the  choicest  viands,  when  he  leaves  his  father's  house, 
falls  step  by  step,  morally  and  physically,  until  he  would  fain 
have  filled  his  belly  with  the  husks  which  the  swine  did  eat. 
May  not  this  beautiful  parable  have  its  literal  fulfilment 
in  the  history  of  the  New  Zealand  race ;  in  it  may  we  not 
behold  one  of  the  long  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  which,  with  its 
fellows,  having  abandoned  the  service  of  the  true  God,  and 
cast  aside  his  Word,  fell  step  by  step  in  the  scale  of  civili- 
zation ;  deprived  of  a  fixed  home,  became  nomade  wan- 
derers over  the  steppes  of  Asia,  a  bye-word  and  a  reproach 
among  the  nations,  and  gradually  retreated  until  in  the  lapse 
of  ages  they  reached  the  sea,  and  thence,  still  preserving  their 
wandering  character,  from  island  to  island  driven  by  winds 
and  currents,  and  various  causes,  they  finally  reached  New 
Zealand,  and  there  fallen  to  their  lowest  state  of  degradation, 
given  up  to  the  fiercest  passions,  consumed,  and  being  con- 
sumed, they  are  enabled  to  reflect,  repent,  and  amend,  and 
resolve  to  arise  and  go  to  their  Father. 

Even  after  the  New  Zealand  race  had  sufficiently  in- 
creased to  colonize  the  two  islands,  there  was  no  bond  of 
union  amongst  them  ;  split  into  innumerable  families  and 
tribes,  each  under  its  own  peculiar  head  and  independent  of 
the  rest,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered,  that  constant  feuds  should 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

have  occurred,  and  that  the  fiercer  passions  should  have  been 
called  into  action?  Their  history  in  this  respect  is  only  a 
counterpart  of  that  of  the  Heptarchy,  when  one  petty  prince 
was  ever  warring  with  another,  or  with  that  state  which 
existed,  to  a  later  period,  amongst  the  Irish  and  the  High- 
landers of  Scotland,  almost  up  to  the  present  generation.  If 
even  the  traditions  which  remain  of  the  savage  feuds  and 
atrocities  of  those  hostile  clans,  were  to  be  compared  with 
the  New  Zealander*s,  it  is  doubtful  which  would  be  thought 
most  savage. 

The  Tapu  was  a  remarkable  institution ;  it  did  not  originate 
with  the  Maori — he  brought  it  with  him ;  it  was  of  wide-spread 
observance,  extending  from  Tonga  to  Tahaiti,  and  thence  to 
the  Sandwich  Isles.  Severe  and  bloody  as  it  was,  in  its  de- 
mands, it  was  still,  as  Polynesian  society  was  constituted, 
politic  and  wise ;  in  fact  it  was  the  only  bond  of  union  which 
existed,  and  kept  them  from  committing  greater  excesses. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  heathen — they  knew 
not  God,  and  great  as  their  sins  were,  they  were  not  against 
light  and  knowledge,  but  committed  with  darkened  under- 
standings. Compare  their  warfare,  as  heathen,  with  that  of 
civilized  Christians ;  the  sack  of  a  town — whether  by  French 
or  English — and  then  what  shall  we  say  of  savage  warfare. 
Compare  the  war  which  the  misguided  patriots  of  New 
Zealand  carried  on  with  the  British  Governor  in  1845-7 
with  that  of  the  French  in  Algeria  during  the  same  period. 
The  sack  of  Kororareka  with  the  destruction  of  an  Arab 
tribe.  The  conduct  of  Hone  Heke,  the  New  Zealand  chief, 
with  that  of  the  French  commander.  The  same  paper  recorded 
both.  Of  the  natives  it  said,  "  they  have  hitherto  enjoyed 
their  triumph  without  cruelty ;  "  in  fact,  the  Governor  himself 
lauded  the  chivalric  conduct  of  Heke.  But  when  the  Oulad 
Riahs,  a  wild  mountain  tribe,  vainly  endeavoured  to  preserve 
their  independence  against  French  aggression,  and  fled  with 
their  wives  and  children  to  their  caves,  and  were  completely 
at  the  mercy  of  their  enemies,  who  had  only  to  blockade  the  en- 
trance to  make  them  submit  to  their  terms,  the  French  officer 
commanded  his  men  to  stop  up  the  entrances  with  combustible 


10  INTRODUOriON. 

materials,  and  then  set  fire  to  them,  and  to  keep  those  fires 
burning  the  whole  of  the  night.  We  can  scarcely  imagine 
anything  more  horrible.  The  graphic  pen  of  a  witness  has 
recorded,  "  in  the  morning  all  was  still ;  the  soldiers  entered 
the  caves,  and  found  piles  of  men,  women,  and  children  at 
the  breast,  with  convulsed  features,  showing  the  horrid  agonies 
they  had  endured,  and  in  that  state  no  feeling  of  remorse  or 
pity  was  felt,  but  the  soldiers  had  nerve  enough  to  plunder 
the  corpses  of  their  jewels  ! "  At  one  fell  blow  from  800  to 
1000  human  beings  thus  fearfully  perished  ! !  And  this  too 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  and,  as  the  eye  witness  of  this  horrid 
holocaust  states,  the  "perpetrators  belonged  to  a  nation  boast- 
ing itself  pre-eminently,  as  the  most  polite  and  civilized  in  the 
world  ;"  and,  in  addition  too,  he  might  have  said,  professedly 
Christian,  as  well. 

After  Kororareka  fell  into  Heke's  hands,  he  allowed  the 
inhabitants  to  re-enter  their  houses,  and  carry  off  their  chief 
valuables;  he  spared  the  churches  and  the  houses  of  the 
ministers ;  and  after  the  battle  was  terminated,  he  was  not 
guilty  of  a  single  act  of  cruelty,  but  showed  great  feeling  and 
forbearance ;  though  from  mistaken  views  he  took  up  arms, 
he  did  not  forget,  that  he  was  a  responsible  being. 

The  New  Zealanders  were  cannibals,  and  great  ones  too. 
Christian  light  and  knowledge  gradually  opened  their  eyes  to 
see  how  horrid  and  unnatural  the  custom  was,  and  in  1 844  the 
last  known  act  of  cannibalism  took  place.  If  we  seek  to 
ascertain  the  origin  of  this  custom,  we  shall  doubtless  find  it 
in  want,  which  has  caused  even  our  own  countrymen,  when 
reduced  to  starvation,  to  have  recourse  to  the  same  dreadful 
expedient  for  preserving  life.*  New  Zealand  had  no  land 
animals,  and  their  constant  wars  often  destroyed  the  only  crops 
on  which  they  had  to  depend  for  winter  subsistence ;  the  con- 
sequence was  frequent  famines ;  to  such  straits  have  they  been 
reduced  that  there  are  traditions  of  men  killing  and  eating  even 
their  own  wives  and  children.  Can  we  then  wonder  that  they 
should  eat  the  bodies  of  those  slain  in  fight.    Still  there  were 

*  See  Cruise  of  the  Blonde,  by  Lieut.  Danipicr. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

many  ercn  in  the  worst  times,  who  entertained  ahnost  as  strong 
a  loathing  for  such  food  as  we  do.  Yet  even  wlien  most  debased 
in  their  social  relations,  there  was  much  to  adinire  :  the  love  of 
theii  ofispring  and  relations,  who  were  more  closely  bound  to- 
gether, by  the  mutual  tie  of  self-preservation ;  their  good  feeling 
and  kindliness  one  towards  another ;  their  careful  avoiding  all 
cause  of  quarrels ;  their  powerful  emotions  of  joy,  on  meeting 
with  absent  friends ;  all  tell  in  their  favor,  and  prove  them  not 
to  have  been  wanting  in  love  for  their  own.  In  war  they  were 
savages;  in  peace  they  were  not  deficient  in  many  of  the 
kindlier  feelings  belonging  to  our  nature.  In  war,  their  dis- 
torted features  made  them  resemble  fiends ;  in  peace,  in  the 
bosom  of  their  families,  they  became  more  like  what  they  should 
be  and  have  become,  under  the  gentle  influence  of  the  Gospel. 
Naturally  a  noble  race,  bodily  and  mentally  superior  to 
inost  of  the  Polynesians,  their  fine  intelligent  countenances 
present  the  exterior  of  a  fair-built  house,  which  only  requires 
to  be  suitably  furnished,  and  we  may  hope  that  they  have 
already  passed  through  the  worst  part  of  that  transition  state 
which,  under  less  favorable  circumstances,  it  took  centuries  to 
bring  our  own  country  through,  to  attain  its  present  highly 
advanced  position  in  the  scale  of  nations. 


"^J«||il„ 


-'■'  ^M^^- 


CHAPTER   II. 

MYTHOLOGY. 


The  Mythology  of  an  isolated  race  like  that  of  the  New 
Zealandei,  is  an  important  aid  in  ascertaining  the  locality, 
from  whence  it  originally  sprung ;  embodied  in  it,  the  most 
ancient  remains  of  its  history  are  to  be  found,  as  well  as 
peculiarities  of  its  religion ;  and  it  is  there  amongst  fables  and 
foolish  tales,  that  some  faint  remains  of  ancient  truth,  are  to 
be  discerned. 

Of  their  traditions  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  most 
ancient,  are  those  which  are  common  to  other  islands,  as  they 
evidently  belong  to  a  period  anterior  to  their  arrival  in  New 


MYTHOIXXJY.  13 

Zealand;  whilst  such  as  are  totally  dissimilar  to  any  other, 
may  be  supposed  to  belong  peculiarly  to  themselves,  and  thus 
mark  the  turn  which  the  native  mind  has  taken,  after  it  has  been 
cut  off  from  every  other  portion  of  the  world.  This  clearly 
shows  how  the  human  mind,  when  left  to  its  own  resources, 
without  the  means  of  being  cultivated  and  enlarged,  becomes 
deteriorated,  loses  its  manly  character,  and  falls  into  a  childish 
frivolity  and  weakness;  whilst  in  the  same  degree  that  the 
mental  powers  are  impaired,  the  fierce  passions  of  the  savage, 
brute  force  and  violence,  increase. 

The  knowledge  which  has  even  now  been  acquired,  of  the 
mythology  of  this  singular  people,  is  very  imperfect ;  and  as 
the  old  people,  in  whose  breasts  it  is  locked  up,  are  rapidly 
passing  away,  much  of  it  will  perish  with  them.  The  rising 
generation  is  indifferent  to  the  traditions  of  the  past ;  the  mind 
being  now  occupied  with  so  many  fresh  subjects  of  interest, 
which  European  intercourse  is  introducing,  it  cannot  be  won- 
dered,  that  it  should  be  disinclined  to  burthen  itself,  with  long 
strings  of  names  and  rites,  which,  generally  speaking,  are 
preserved  in  language,  as  dissimilar  to  that  now  spoken,  as 
Spencer  or  Chaucer  is  to  ours ;  and  this  also  presents  a  great 
difiiculty  in  the  research,  as  it  is  only  the  old  men  who  can 
explain  words,  which  have  long  been  obsolete. 

Properly  speaking,  the  natives  had  no  knowledge  of  a 
Supreme  Being.  They  had  a  multitude  of  gods,  and  these 
were  said  to  have  been  the  fathers,*  each  one  of  some  depart- 
ment in  nature ;  and  these  gods  are  so  mixed  up  with  the 
spirits  of  ancestors,  whose  worship  entered  largely  into  their 
religion,  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other. 
In  fact,  their  traditions  of  the  creation,  go  back  far  beyond 


*  Speaking  to  Te  Heuheu,  the  powerful  Chief  of  Taapo,  of  God,  as  being 
the  creator  of  ail  things,  he  ridiculed  the  idea,  and  said,  is  there  one  maker  of 
all  things  amongst  you  Europeans  ?  is  not  one  a  carpenter,  another  a  black- 
smith, another  a  ship-builder,  and  another  a  house-builder  ?  And  so  was  it  in 
the  beginning ;  one  made  this,  another  that :  Tane  made  trees,  Ru  mountains, 
Tanga-roa  fish,  and  so  forth.  Your  religion  is  of  to-day,  ours  from  remote 
antiquity.  Do  not  think  then  to  destroy  our  ancient  faith  with  your  fresh- 
bom  religion. 


14  MYTHOLOGY. 

even  the  gods  themselves.  They  begin  with  notliing,  which 
produced  something,  and  that  brought  forth  something  more, 
and  generated  a  power  of  increasing.  Spirit,  being  more 
subtle  than  matter^  arose  before  it,  and  thought,  being  sup- 
posed to  be  more  so  than  spirit,  the  commencement  dates 
with  its  birth. 

There  is  a  degree  of  thought  perceptible  in  their  traditions 
of  the  creation,  which  mark  a  far  more  advanced  state  than 
their  present.  Their  ideas  in  some  respects  are  not  so  puerile, 
as  those  even  of  the  more  civilized  heathen  nations  of  old,  and 
without  the  light  of  inspiration,  we  cannot  expect  they  would 
be  more  advanced  than  we  find  them. 

The  first  period  may  be  styled  the  epoch  of  thought — 

**  From  the  conception  the  increase, 
From  the  increase  the  thought, 
From  the  thought  the  remembrance, 
From  the  remembrance  the  consciousness, 
From  the  consciousness  the  desire.'' 

The  second  period  is  that  of  night — 
**  The  word  became  finiitful ; 

It  dwelt  with  the  feeble  glimmering ; 

It  brought  forth  night : 

The  groat  night,  the  long  night. 

The  lowest  night,  the  loftiest  night, 

The  thick  night,  to  be  felt, 

The  night  to  be  touched. 

The  night  not  to  be  seen, 

The  night  of  death." 

This  (we  are  told)  is  all  we  have  to  do  with  night ;  during 
these  periods  there  was  no  light — there  were  no  eyes  to  the 
world. 

The  third  period  is  that  of  light — 
**  From  the  nothing  the  begetting. 
From  the  nothing  the  iacrease, 
From  the  nothing  the  abundance, 
The  power  of  increasing. 
The  living  breath ; 

It  dwelt  with  the  empty  space,  and  produced  the  atmosphere 
which  is  above  us, 


MYTHOLOGY.  15 

The  atmosphoro  which  floats  above  the  earth ; 

The  great  firmament  aboyc  us,  dwelt  with  the  early  dawn, 

And  the  moon  sprung  forth ; 

The  atmosphere  above  us,  dwelt  with  the  heat, 

And  thence  proceeded  the  sun ; 

They  were  thrown  up  above,  as  the  chief  eyes  of  Heaven : 

Then  the  Heavens  became  light, 

The  early  dawn,  the  early  day, 

The  mid-day.     The  blaze  of  day  fix)m  the  sky." 

The  fourth  period — 

"  The  sky  above  dwelt  with  Hawoiki,  and  produced  land .    Tapora- 

pora   Tauwarenikau,    Kuku-paru,    Wawau-atea,   Wiwhi-te 

Bangiora." 

These  are  the  names  of  lands  or  islands,  supposed  to  have 
been  first  created ;  Hawaiki  is  the  island  they  originally  came 
from,  which  is  regarded  as  the  cradle  of  their  race. 

The  fifth  period :  the  land  being  thus  formed,  then  were 
produced  the  gods — 

''  Eu-ou-hoko,  Euatupu,  Euatawiti  Eua-kaipo,  &c." 

The  sixth  period,  when  men  were  produced — 

Ngae,  Ngaenui,  Ngaeroa,  Ngaepea,  Ngactuturi,  Ngapepeke. 
Tatiti,  Euatapu,  Toe,  Eauru-tama-rakei-ora."* 

There  were  two  grand  orders  of  gods :  the  first  and  most 
ancient  were  the  gods  of  the  night,  as  night  preceded  light, 

and  then  followed  the  gods  of  the  light.     Of  the  former  the 

*  Na  te  kune  te  pupuke 
Na  te  pupuke  te  hihiri 
Na  te  hihiri  te  mahara 
Na  te  mahara  te  hinengaro 
Na  te  hinengaro  te  manako 


Ka  hua  to  wananga 

Ka  noho  i  a  riko  riko 

Ra  puta  ki  waho  ko  te  po, 

Ro  te  po  nui,  to  po  roa, 

Te  po  i  tuturi,  te  po  i  pepcke, 

Te  po  uriuri,  te  po  tangotango, 

Te  po  wawa,  te  po  te  kitca, 

Tepo  te  waia, 

Te  po  i  oti  atu  ki  te  mate. 


16  MYTHOLOGY. 

chief  was  Hine-nui-te-po,  great  mother  night,  the  grand 
parent  of  the  rest.  Of  the  latter,  Rangi  and  Papa,  or  Heaven 
and  Earth,  were  the  parents.  The  general  idea  of  Heaven  was 
that  it  was  a  solid  and  opaque  body,  spread  out  upon  the  earth, 
which  was  flat  as  a  board*  Papa  (the  earth)  bears  this  signi- 
fication. 

Oti  ata  koutou  ki  te  Po — e. 
[During  this  period  all  was  dark — no  eyes.] 
Na  to  kore  i  ai« 
Te  kore  te  wiwia 
Te  kore  te  rawea, 
Ko  hotupu,  ko  hauora, 
Ka  noho  i  te  atea» 
Ka  puta  ki  waho,  te  rangi  e  tu  nei, 
Ka  noho  i  ELawaiki, 
Ka  puta  ki  waho  ko  tapora  pora, 
Ko  tauware  nikau,  ko  kukuparu 
Ko  wawauatea,  ko  wiwhi  te  rangiora, 
Ko  Ru,  no  Hu,  ko  on  hoko 
Na  ouhoko,  ko  matapu, 
Ko  rua  tawito,  na  ma  tawito 
Rua  kaipo,  na  rua  kaipo 
Ko  ngae,  ngae  nui,  ngae  roa, 
Ngae  pea,  ngae  tuturi,  ngae 
Pepeke,  ko  Tatiti,  ko  Rua 
Tapu,  ko  toe,  ko  rauru 
Ko  tama  rake  i  ora  ko  &c. 

[The  natives  are  very  proud  of  their  genealogies,  and  generally  those  of 
great  men  are  traced  up  to  the  gods,  and  even  before  them ;  this  may  be  the 
case  here;  if  so,  the  latter  part  will  be  some  great  Chief's  genealogy  attached 
to  this  Song  of  the  Creation.] 

Ko  te  rangi  e  tere  tere  ana 
I  rung^  o  te  whenua 
Ka  noho  te  rangi  nui  e  tu  nei 
Ka  noho  i  a  ata  tuhi,  ka  puta 
Ki  waho  te  marama,  ka  noho. 
Te  rangi  i  tu  nei,  ka  noho  i  a 
Te  werowero,  ka  puta  ki  waho 
Ko  te  ra,  kokiritia  ana 
Ki  runga,  hei  pnkanohi 
Mo  te  rangi,  ka  tau  te 
Rangi,  Te  ata  tuhi,  te 
Ata  rapa,  te  ata  ka 
Mahina,  ka  mahina 
Te  ata  i  hikurangi. 


MvnioL(x;Y.  17 

•  There  were  either  ten  or  eleven  Heavens  ;*  the  lowest  was 
separated  from  the  earth,  by  a  solid  transparent  substance  like 
ice  or  crystal, f  and  it  was  along  the  under  side,  or  that  next 
to  the  earth,  that  the  sun  and  moon  were  supposed  to  glide. 
Above  this  pavement  was  the  grand  reservoir  of  the  rain,  and 
beyond  that  was  the  abode  of  the  winds.}; 

Each  Heaven  was  distinct,  the  lowest  being  the  abode  of 
rain  ;  the  next  of  spirits ;  the  third  of  the  winds ;  the  fourth 
of  light,  the  highest  of  all,  being  the  most  glorious,  and 
therefore  the  chief  habitation  of  the  gods. 

The  sky,  with  its  solid  pavement,  laying  upon  the  earth, 


*  TawcUcVs  Ascent  to  Heaven, 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituatahi, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituarua, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituatoru, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituawa^ 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituarima, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituaono, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituawitu, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituawaru, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituaiwa, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 
Piki  ake  Tawaki  i  te  Rangituarea, 
E  rongo  te  Mahaki. 

Pipiri  moko,  pipiri  moko,  raraumoko  raraumoko, 
Rarauki  taha  tu  o  te  rangi. 

f  The  following  is  a  description  given  by  an  old  Chief,  of  the  Heavens : — 
He  tua  whenua  te  rangi,  he  kohatu  nga  wetu,  he  kohatu  nui  te  ra,  namaui  i  ti- 
toko  ake  te  rang^,  ko  enei  enci,  ko  era  kohatu  era,  i  piri  atu  ki  tera  oneone. 
He  kiko  rangi  1  tera,  he  mangu  iho  ra  (blue  sky)  no  tua  atu  i  te  kiko  rangi  te 
ua,  tua  atu  he  tangata :  kei  tua  mai  o  te  kiko  rangi  te  hau.  Nga  taepanga 
o  te  rangi,  nga  tatutanga  ki  raro. 

I  Tawaki  is  said  to  have  danced  with  such  violence  upon  the  pavement  of 
heaven  when  in  a  great  rage  as  to  crack  it,  and  so  let  the  water  through, 
which  fell  on  the  earth  and  caused  a  deluge. 

C 


18  MYTHOLOGY. 

rendered  it  fruitless;  a  few  insignificant  shrubs  and  creeping 
plants  only,  had  room  to  grow  on  its  surface. 

The  earth's  skin,  or  covering,  was  the  tutu ; 

Her  covering  was  the  wehe-wehe ; 

Her  covering  was  the  bramble ; 

Her  covering  was  the  nettle. 

Don't  grieve  that  the  earth  is  covered  with  water ; 

Don't  lament  for  the  length  of  time. 

The  ocean's  reign  shall  be  broken ; 

The  ocean's  surface  shall  be  rough, 

(with  the  lands  springing  up  in  it) 

With  mountains  standing  forth, 

Girdling  round  the  sea. 

Yes,  round  the  sea. 

Broken  up  shall  you  be  (0  earth). 

Do  not  grieve. 

Yes  you,  even  you, 

Lest  you  should  grieve  through  love ; 

Lest  you  should  grieve  for  your  water  covered  surface ; 

Lest  you  should  lament  for  the  time. 

The  offspring  of  Rangi  and  Papa,  were  first  the  Kuinara, 
which  came  from  the  face  of  Heaven,  being  a  plant  which 
requires  heat.  Next  came  the  fern-root,  which  sprung  from 
the  back  of  Rangi,  intimating  its  hardy  nature,  being  found 
on  the  cold  hills,  and  needing  no  sun  to  make  it  grow.  The 
first  living  being  they  produced  was  Tane,  from  whom  pro- 
ceeded trees  and  birds ;  what  he  was  they  do  not  seem  clearly 
to  know,  a  god,  a  man,  or  a  tree ;  he  is  also  called  Tane 
Mahuta. 

The  second  was  Tiki,  from  whom  man  proceeded ;  his  wife's 
name  was  Marikoriko,  or  Twilight.  The  first  woman  was 
not  born,  but  formed  out  of  the  earth  by  the  Arohi-rohi,  or 
quivering  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  echo.  The  daughter  of 
Tiki  and  Marikoriko  was  called  Kauatata. 

The  third  son  of  Rangi  and  Papa  was  Tutenganahau,  the 
grand  author  of  evil. 

Their  fourth  was  Tahu,  the  author  of  all  good.  Tabu  is 
the  name  for  husband,  and  may  have  a  figurative  reference  to 
marriage. 


MVrHOLOGY.  19 

The  fifth  was  Tawirimatea,  the  father  of  the  winds ;  and 
the  last  was  Tangaroa,  the  father  of  all  fish,  and  the  great  god 
of  the  ocean.  This  god  in  Tonga,  is  regarded  as  the  creator 
of  all  things ;  he  is  there  called  Tangaloa  ;  and  in  Tahaiti, 
where  he  is  known  as  Taaroa,  he  is  viewed  in  the  same  light. 

This  is  also  the  case  in  Hawaii,*  or  the  Sandwich  isles. 
Orongo,  another  of  the  most  ancient  deities  at  Hawaii,  was 
worshipped  by  the  name  of  Orono  ;  and  Captain  Cook,  on  his 
arrival  there,  was  taken  for  that  god,  and  he  permitted  the 
islanders  to  reverence  him  as  such,  and  even  to  offer  up  sacri- 
fices to  him,  which  eventually  caused  his  death.  Tane  and 
Tikif  were  also  known  in  Tahaiti,  the  latter  by  the  name  of 
Tii,  so  likewise  was  Ru,  J  and  Hine  nui  te  po,  or  Great  Mother 
Night,  the  womb  of  nature.  The  same  idea  prevailed  there  of 
the  malignant  character  of  the  Atua  Potiki,  or  infant  gods,  who 
were  called  Hotua  Pou ;  and  supposed  to  delight  in  mischief. 

The  offspring  of  Papa  and  Rangi  are  next  represented  as 
holding  a  council,  to  decide  what  was  to  be  done  with  their 
parents,  that  the  earth  might  be  rendered  fruitful ;  for,  as  the 
tradition  states,for  a  long  long  period  "from  the  first  night  to  the 
tenth  night,  to  the  hundredth  night,  to  the  thousandth  night, 
all  was  dark,  the  thick  opaque  heaven  laid  on  the  earth,  and 
rendered  her  barren.  In  vain  did  she  seek  for  offspring  in 
the  likeness  of  the  night,  or  of  the  day.  Then  they  consi- 
dered what  must  be  done  for  Rangi  and  Papa.  Shall  we 
slay  them,  or  shall  we  separate  them  ?    Tumata-uenga  (this 

*  At  Hawaii  he  is  called  Tanaroa ;  amongst  the  Maori  he  is  the  god  who 
reveals  secrets.  Tangaroa  piri  whare,  which  implies  that  he  is  an  eaves- 
dropper, listening  to  what  others  are  saying,  and  making  mischief  of  it.  It  is 
not  improbable  that  he  was  the  original  god  of  the  Polynesians ;  perhaps  before 
they  inhabited  these  islands  at  all :  see  Buddie's  Lectures. — I  am  inclined  to 
think  the  same 

t  A  small  image  of  a  man,  cut  out  of  the  much-prized  green  stone,  which  is 
worn  round  the  neck ;  its  name  is  Tiki,  the  father  of  man. 

X  Ru  is  also  a  Tahaitian  god.  The  same  tradition  of  the  heaven  being 
joined  to  the  earth  is  there  found,  and  that  they  were  only  separated  by  the 
Teva,  an  insignificant  plant,  Draconitum  poUy  phillum,  till  their  god  Ruu  lifted 
it  up. 

<'Na  Ruu  1  to  te  rai,**         Ru  did  elevate,  or  raise  the  heavens. 

c  2 


22  M\THOLOGY. 

children  the  trees,  of  which  he  was  the  father ;  and  of  the  birds, 
who  own  him  also  as  their  parent.  Tane  had  six  names,  each 
being  emblematical  of  his  power.  This  is  the  case  with  all 
those  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the  New  Zealand 
mythology.      Thus  we  have 

Tane  Tuturi — the  bending ;  from  doing  so  in  upheaving  the  sky. 

Tane  Pepeki — the  bowing ;  when  his  feet  were  against  the  sky. 

Tane  TJetika — straight  as  a  tree. 

Tane  TJeka — strong  as  a  tree. 

Tane  te  Waiora — the  person  who  opened  the  fountain  of  living 

water. 

Tane  nui  a  Eangi — the  great  Tane  who  propped  up  the  heavens. 

In  addition  to  these  he  is  called  Tane  Mahuta.  The  last 
great  work  which  is  attributed  to  him  is  the  opening  of  the 
fountain  of  living  water,  to  perpetuate  the  existence  of  the 
sun  and  moon ;  the  latter,  when  it  wanes,  is  thought  to  go  to 
it,  and  bathing  therein  to  receive  a  renewed  existence :  hence 
the  saying — "  Man  dies  and  is  no  more  seen ;  but  the  moon 
dies,  and,  plunging  into  the  living  water,  springs  forth  again 
into  life." 

Tane  is  also  the  father  of  the  birds  which  fly  by  night  as 
well  as  those  which  fly  by  day  ;*  hence  the  saying — "  Ko  te 

Onga  onga  te  kiri,  As  the  nettle  to  the  skin, 

Kei  mihi  ki  te  ipu,  Do  not  grieve  for  thy  partner, 

Kei  tangi  ki  te  tau.  Do  not  cry  for  your  husband, 

Tangaroa  watia,  Let  ocean  be  broken  (in  two)« 

Tangaroa  tara  Let  ocean  be  far  apart, 

Anga  tonu  ko  e  ki  tai-e.        Be  you  united  to  the  sea, 
Ki  tai  e.  Yes  to  the  sea,  O  earth, 

Wati  ko  koc  kei  mihi.  Broken  asunder  are  you  two, 

Ko  koe  kei  aroha,  Do  not  grieve, 

Kei  mihi  ki  te  ipu.  Do  not  (continue)  your  love, 

Kei  tangi  ki  te  tau.  Do  not  grieve  for  your  partner. 

When  the  earth  and  sky  were  separated,  she  was  told  to  shrink  from  contact 
with  her  former  partner,  as  the  skin  does  from  the  nettle  and  bramble.  The 
ocean  was  to  be  divided,  being  their  joint  offspring  ;  half  was  to  go  to  Rangi, 
and  form  clouds ;  and  half  to  remain  with  Papa,  to  form  the  sea. 

*  Ka  noho  a  Tane,  ka  noho  ia  a  Mumuwhango,  ka  puta  ki  wahoko  te  Totara, 
ka  noho  a  Tane  i  a  to  Puwhakahara  ka  puta  ki  wa];io  ko  te  Kahikatoa,  te  Ake 
rautangi,  ka  noho  a  Tane  ka  noho  i  a  te  Ata  tangirea,  ka  puta  ki  waho  te  Maire 
rau  nui,  ka  noho  a  Tane  ka  noho  i  a  Parauri,  ka  putff  ki  waho  ko  te  Tui,  ka  noho 


MYTHOLOGY.  23 

manu  huna  a  Tane" — (the  hidden  bird  of  Tane),  applied  to 
a  person  who  arrives  when  it  is  dark,  or  remains  unnoticed  in 
the  place. 

Of  Tiki  little  is  preserved :  his  great  work  was  that  of 
making  man,  which  he  is  said  to  have  done  after  his  own 
image.  One  account  states,  that  he  took  red  clay  and  kneaded 
it  with  his  own  blood,  and  so  formed  the  eyes  and  limbs, 
and  then  gave  the  image  breath.  Another,  that  man  was 
formed  of  clay,  and  the  red  ochreous  water  of  swamps, 
and  that  Tiki  bestowed  both  his  own  form  and  name  upon 
him,  calling  him  Tiki-ahua,  or  Tiki's  likeness.  The  most  prized 
ornament  is  an  uncouth  image  of  a  man,  formed  of  green  stone, 
and  worn  round  the  neck  as  an  "  Heitiki"  image,  or  remem- 
brance of  Tiki.*  The  new-born  infant  is  called  "  he  potiki" 
or  a  gift  of  Tiki  from  the  Po  or  Hades.  And  the  top  knot  of 
a  Chief's  head,  the  most  sacred  part  of  the  person,  is  called 
''He  Tikir 

Some  traditions  say  that  Tiki  is  a  woman,  but  the  general 
idea  is  the  contrary. 

The  next  person  who  appears  on  the  stage  is  Maui :  he 
may  be  called  the  grand  hero  of  the  New  Zealand  mythology, 

a  Tane  ka  noho  i  a  Papa,  ka  puta  ki  waho  ko  te  Kiwi,  ko  te  manu  hunahuna  a 
Tane,  ka  noho  a  Tane  ka  noho  i  a  Haerea  wawa,  ka  puta  ki,  waho  ko  te  Weka- 
ka  noho  a  Tane  i  a  Tuwairore,  ka  puta  ki  waho  ko  te  ka-hikatea,  ko  te  Rimu,  ko 
te  Totara,  ko  te  Aratau-waiti  o  Tane  ko  nga  tamatama  a  Tane  mota  to  nga 
nahau  ko  te  kiri,  ko  te  kahi-katoa,  hei  whare  mo  Kahu-kura,  i  maru  ai  a 
kahukura. 


w 


Mumuwango 

came  the 

Totara 

Puwhakahara 

>» 

( Rahikatoa 
( Ake-rau-ta 

Ata-tangi-rea 

w 

Maire-rau- 

Parauri 

w 

Tui 

Papa 

w 

Kiwi 

Awa  awa 

91 

Weka 
( Kahikatea 
(Rimu 

Tuwairore 

99 

trees. 


(  birds. 

i  trees. 

«  But  the  Totara,  the  chief  of  trees  is  the  best  for  canoes ;  whilst  the  Ake 
rau  tangi  and  the  Kahikatoa  are  the  more  suitable  for  weapons  of  war ;  and 
the  bark  of  the  Kahikatoa  serves  as  a  house  for  Kahukura." 

*  The  word  Tiki  in  Nukuhiva,  or  Tit  in  Hawaiian,  means  an  image. — See 
BuddWs  Lecturet, 


24  MYTHOLOGY. 

and  it  is  upon  his  history  the  natives  delight  to  dwell.  A 
person  called  Tara-hunga  is  said  to  be  the  father  of  the  Maui 
family,  which  is  all  that  is  known  of  hira.    He  had  six  sons — 

1  Maui-i-mua 

2  Maui-i-roto 

3  Maui-i-taha 

4  Maui-i-pai 

5  Maui-i-tiki  tiki-a-tarangi 

6  Maui-i-nukurau,  or  the  Potiki. 

The  last  is  the  most  important  character  :  his  elder  brethren 
were  sumamed  Ware-ware,  which  signifies  that  they  were  for- 
getful or  absent  Maui  Potiki  appears  to  have  had  many 
names,  which  are  expressive  of  his  power :  thus  he  is  called 
Atamai,from  his  liberality;  Toa,  from  his  superior  strength,  and 
by  some  he  is  also  called  e  tiki  tiki  a  tarangi,  which  signifies 
that  he  possessed  the  tiki,  (top  knot,)  or  power  of  his  father. 

His  brethren,  however,  professed  to  despise  and  underrate 
their  younger  brother,  and  to  take  every  advantage  of  him. 
When  they  went  out  fishing,  they  would  give  him  what  they 
caught  to  cook,  and  then  eat  all  up  themselves,  only  giving 
him  the  scales  for  his  portion.  He  likewise  appears  to  have  re- 
turned evil  for  evil,  sometimes  refusing  to  join  in  their  fishing 
until  they  had  finished ;  he  would  then  throw  his  hook  into 
the  water,  and  at  one  pull  would  catch  more  fish  than  they  had 
all  taken  together.  Some  traditions  also  allude  to  his  playing 
tricks  on  his  kuia  and  waea — his  grandmother  and  mother. 
He  is  also  said  to  have  been  guilty  of  great  impiety  in  taking  the 
jaw-bone  of  his  grandfather  Muri  Rangawhenua,  and  making 
a  fish-hook  of  it,  which  he  kept  concealed  under  his  mat. 
One  of  Maui's  works  was  to  tie  the  sun  and  moon  in  their 
places,  so  that  having  run  their  appointed  courses,  they  should 
daily  return  to  their  starting  post.  Another  work  of  this 
Maori  Hercules  was  to  kill  Tunarua,  a  great  taniwa  or 
monster,  who  lived  in  the  water.  He  cut  off  his  head,  which 
he  cast  into  the  sea,  where  it  became  a  koiro,  or  conger  eel ; 
the  tail  he  threw  into  the  fresh  water,  and  it  turned  into  the 
tuna,  or  eel.  Another  part  was  thrown  on  the  ground,  and 
the  kareao  or  supple-jack  sprung  up.    The  blood  was  absorbed 


MYTHOLOGY.  25 

by  the  rimu,  totara,  toatoa,  and  other  trees  having  red  wood, 
which  accounts  for  their  being  so. 

Afterwards  Maui  Atamai  accompanied  his  brother  Maui 
Ware-ware  to  the  woods  to  get  makaka,  a  strong  flexible 
climbing  plant,  used  for  the  manufacture  of  eel  pots.  Maui 
Ware-ware  made  an  opening  at  the  end  of  his  eel  pot  for  the 
fish  to  enter  in  by,  but  as  he  used  no  precaution  to  hinder 
them  from  going  out  again,  they  only  eat  the  bait  and  went 
away.  But  Maui  Mohio,  made  a  tohi,  or  door,  to  the  entrance 
into  his  eel  pot,  to  hinder  the  fish  from  escaping ;  so  that 
whilst  his  elder  brother  had  no  fish,  his  eel  basket  was  filled. 
On  their  return  home,  Maui  Mohio  privately  removed  his  tohi, 
lest  his  contrivance  should  be  known ;  so  when  his  disappointed 
brothers  saw  that  his  eel  basket  was  filled,  they  inquired  the 
cause  of  his  success,  and  examining  his  basket,  found  to  their 
surprise  that  it  was  just  the  same  as  their  own.  Afterwards 
the  elder  brothers  made  some  spears  for  birds ;  all  their  points 
were  smooth ;  but  Maui  added  a  barb  to  his ;  when  they  went 
to  the  woods  to  spear  birds,  they  wounded,  but  could  not 
secure  them,  as  they  slipped  off  the  smooth  point.  Maui  secured 
Ul  his,  as  the  barb  of  his  spear  held  them  firm.  When  they 
•etumed  home,  Maui  privately  removed  the  barb,  and 
)ut  on  the  smooth  point  again,  which  his  brothers  had  made, 
.hat  they  might  not  find  out  the  cause  of  his  success. 

Afterwards  the  elder  brothers  made  some  fish-hooks ;  Maui 
lid  the  same,  but  his  were  barbed,  whilst  theirs  were  smooth, 
rhey  went  to  the  sea ;  his  brothers  caught  fish,  but  they  escaped : 
Maui  secured  all  his.  His  brothers  called  out  to  him,  let  us  see 
your  hook ;  he  held  up  one  that  was  unbarbed  like  their  own. 
They  returned  home,  but  without  fish ;  Maui  the  cunning 
only  had  any.  His  brethren  were  very  angry,  and  turned 
him  out  of  their  canoe ;  they  told  him  and  Irawaru,  his  brother- 
in-law,  to  go  to  sea  in  a  canoe  by  themselves.  Maui  gave  the 
baits  to  him  to  put  on  the  hooks,  but,  like  a  greedy  dog,  he 
eat  them  all  up.  This  made  Maui  very  angry,  and  when  they 
landed  he  called  to  his  brother-in-law  to  go  on  before  and 
lie  down,  as  a  skid.  Irawaru  did  so,  and  Maui  dragged 
the    canoe   over   his  back,    and,    behold !    it    was   broken ; 


26  MYTHOLOGY, 

aud  he  was  turned  into  a  dog.*  Maui  left  him,  and 
returned  to  the  village.  His  sister  asked  him^  where  is  your 
brother-in-law?  Maui  replied,  he  is  there  taking  care  of 
our  fish.  His  sister  went  and  called  Irawaru,  Irawaru,  Ira- 
waru  (his  second  name  was  Kooa) ;  she  returned,  and  said 
he  is  not  there.  He  inquired,  did  you  go  as  far  as 
the  canoe  ?  She  said,  yes.  Maui  then  bid  her  return  and 
call  moi,  moi  (the  usual  way  of  calling  a  dog).  The  woman 
went,  and  when  she  arrived  at  the  canoe  she  cried  moi,  moi, 
and  behold  Irawaru  ran  up  to  her;  the  tail  was  turned  into 
the  head,  and  the  head  into  the  tail.  The  woman  returned 
to  her  brother :  when  she  came  to*Maui  she  said,  why  have 
you  acted  in  this  way  to  your  brother-in-law,  to  turn  him  into 
a  dog  ?  Maui  replied,  because  he  eat  our  baits  like  one.  Thus 
Irawaru  became  the  father  of  the  dog,  which  being  descended 
from  a  god  was  considered  sacred. 

Soon  after  this,  he  finished  making  his  fish-hook,which  is  called 
^*  Tuwhawhakia  ie  rangi"^  The  face  of  it  is  named  Muri  rang  a 
whenua.  His  brethren  again  went  to  the  sea  in  their  canoe, 
which  is  called  the  Riu  o  Mahui.  Maui  went  on  board,  but 
remembering  his  former  conduct,  they  would  not  take  him 
with  them,  but  turned  him  out,  and  went  to  sea,  although  he 
continually  entreated  to  go.     No,  no;   you  are  too  full  of 

*In  another  tradition^  the  following  is  given  as  the  incantation  used  by  Maui 
to  turn  Irawaru  into  a  dog  : — 

£  hau  koe-i  tai^  Bark  you  from  the  sea, 

E  hau  koe-i  tai,  Bark  you  from  the  sea, 

Kai  to  atua  nui.  Consume  you  great  divinity^ 

Kai  to  atua  roa;  Consume  your  long-enduring  divinity; 

Ko  i  a  vnti.  You  pass  over, 

Ko  i  a  pana,  You  be  thrust  out, 

Ko  i  a  taratara,  You  be  rough  with  hair,  [ding, 

Waka  hokia,  waka  hokia  mai,        You  be  caused  to  go  and  return  at  the  bid- 

Ekoe  ki  taku  moi  moi ;  My  dog ; 

Tautika,  tautonu  hoki.  To  go  straight,  to  go  always, 

Ki  to  matua  he  mihi.  To  your  master,  [<1<>P- 

Ho  aroha,  moi  a  rua.  To  fawn,  to  love,  this  is  your  law,  my 

t  According  to  another  tradition,  Aurarotuia  was  the  name  of  the  canoe, 
Pikiawhea  the  hook,  Awhcnga  the  face  of  it,  and  Ko  ake,  a  man,  the  name  of  the 
bait.     Some  say,  that  ho  cut  off  a  piece  of  his  ear  for  a  bait. 


MYTHOLOGY.  27 

craft ;  stay  behind.  So  they  left  him.  Some  time  afterwards 
he  took  the  form  of  a  Piwakawaka  (the  fan-tailed  fly-catcher^ 
a  very  lively  restless  little  bird),  and  flying  straight  to  the  canoe, 
he  perched  on  the  prow.  But  as  he  began  twirling  and 
twiddling  about,  his  brothers  immediately  recognized  him.  He 
then  dropped  his  feathers  one  by  one,  and  again  resuming  his 
proper  form ;  he  remained  sitting  on  the  prow  of  the  canoe. 
His  brothers  said,  don't  let  us  give  him  a  bait  for  his 
hook.  Maui  looked  about  with  his  eyes,  and  saw  the  root 
end  of  a  leaf  of  flax  lying  near  him ;  he  cut  it  off  as  a  bait  for 
his  hook,  made  from  the  jawbone  of  his  grandfather,  which  he 
pulled  from  beneath  his  mat.  He  gave  his  nose  a  blow,  and 
with  the  blood  which  came  from  it,  saturated  the  lump  of  flax, 
and  tying  it  on  his  hook  as  a  bait,  he  then  cast  it  into  the  sea, 
paying  out  the  line  as  he  uttered  this  spell — 

Angi  oQgi  ki  tc  wakarua,  Blow  gently  from,  the  wakarua, 

Angi  angi  ki  te  mawaki ;  Blow  gently  from  the  mawaki ; 

Taku  aho  ka  tangi  wiwinei ;  My  line  let  it  pull  straight ; 

Taku  aho  ka  tangi  wawa ;  My  line  let  it  pull  strong ; 

Taku  aho  kai  iria  ka  mate,  My  line,  it  is  pulled, 

Tu  ana  he  wata  mano  wai.  It  has  caught, 

Manowa  mai  hoki,  It  has  come. 

Te  watu  wiwia,  The  land  is  gained, 

Tc  watu  rawea,  The  land  is  in  the  hand, 

Te  watu  ko  ronga  ta.  The  land  long  waited  for, 

Au  ni  ka  wai  atu  The  boasting  of  Maui, 

Ei  moana,  ka  wainga  His  great  land, 

Waka  nene  a  Maui  For  which  ho  went  to  sea, 

Waka  nene  a-ka-tau.  His  boasting,  it  is  caught. 

(He  Hirihiringa  mo  te  hutinga  a  te  ao) 

He  let  out  all  his  line,  and  then  there  was  a  bite.  The 
hook  caught  something,  which  pulled  very  hard,  so  that  the 
canoe  heeled  over,  and  was  on  the  point  of  capsizing.  His 
brothers  called  out,  Maui  let  go.  He  replied,*  What  did 
I  come  for  but  to  catch  fish  ?  I  won't  let  go.  So  he  con- 
tinued pulling  in  his  line,  and  again  the  canoe  heeled  over. 
His  brothers  impatiently  repeated  the  command,  Maui  let 

*  Ka  mau  ta  Maui  ki  tona  ringa  ringa  e  kore  e  taia  to  rum.    What  Maui 
has  got  in  his  hand  he  cannot  throw  away  ;  which  has  passed  into  a  proverb. 


28  MYTHOLOGY. 

go ;  we  shall  be  drowned ;  but  he  persisted  in  pulling,  and 
at  last  the  earth  came  up.  The  hook  caught  the  Maihi,  the 
facing  board  of  Hine-nui-te-po's  house,  and  drew  it  up  with 
the  land.  This  was  Ranga  whenua,  that  is  the  fish  of  Maui. 
He  boastingly  asked  his  brothers  the  name  of  his  fish :  they 
could  not  tell.  Again  and  again  did  he  ask  them  ;  they  were 
dumb  with  amazement.  He  told  them  it  was  Haha  whenua, 
that  is  the  searching  for  land.  The  moment  the  land  came  up 
their  canoe  grounded,  and  the  hills*  appeared.  The  canoe,  it 
is  said,  still  remains  on  the  top  of  Hikurangi,  a  lofty  mountain  at 
^aiapu,  near  the  East  Cape.  Some  say  it  is  further  south,  at 
Ahuriri.  The  salt  water  eye  of  the  fish  is  Wanganui-a-te-ra 
(Port  Nicholson).  The  fresh  water  eye  is  Wairarapa.  The 
upper  jaw  is  Rongo  rongo  (the  north  head  of  Port  Nicholson) ; 
the  lower  jaw  is  Te  Rimurapa  (south  head  of  ditto).  The 
head  of  this  land  fish  of  Maui  lies  at  Turakirae  (a  mountain  on 
the  coast  near  Wairarapa) ;  the  tail  is  the  spirits'  flying  place 
(Cape  Maria  van  Dieman) ;  the  belly  is  Taupo  and  Tongariro. 
One  tradition  states,  that  Maui's  brothers  immediately  they 
saw  the  fish,  took  their  tuatini's  (an  instrument  bordered  with 
a  row  of  shark's  teeth,  the  ancient  Maori  knife)  and  began 
crimping  the  fish.  This  accounts  for  the  hills  and  vallies 
and  all  the  irregularities  of  the  islands'  surface.  A  similar 
tradition  prevails  in  the  Tonga  isles ;  but  there  Tangaloa  is 
the  fisherman.  With  some  variations,  this  myth  is  known  from 
one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other.  It  appears  only  to  apply 
to  the  north  island,  which  indeed  has  a  remarkable  resemblance 
to  a  fish  in  shape ;  and  the  perfect  knowledge  which  the 
natives  had  of  its  form,  is  an  evident  proof  that  they  had  fre- 
quently circiunnavigated  it  in  former  times,  and,  in  fact,  had 
lived  more  peaceably  and  had  more  friendly  intercourse  with 
each  other  than  they  have  now.    It  is  not  improbable  that  the 

*  According  to  the  Nga-puhi  tradition : — Te  pirita  o  te  rangi  te  waka,  tu- 
^hawakia  o  te  rangi,  te  mata  o  te  matau  nga  kawae  o  muriranga-whenua,  i 
tona  haeretanga  i  te  moana,  kai  ponu  tona  boa  kua  motokia  tona  ihu  muri  iho 
ka  puta  mai  he  toto  ka  mea  atu  nga  hoa  o  Maui  kia  Tukua  te  ika,  ka  mea  atu 
kei  hca  hoki  ta  Maui  i  hoc  ai  i  te  wai  ? 

Taupiri,  an  isolated  mountain,  is  said  by  some  to  have  been  the  first  land 
which  was  seen. 


MYTHOLOGY.  29 

name  Maui  is  nothing  more  than  a  title  given  to  the  person 
who  first  sighted  land.*  Ma-u-i  literally  signifies  as  much. 
Maui  also  means  to  bewitch  or  enchant ;  in  both  of  which  arts 
he  was  a  great  adept,  f 

The  next  great  work  of  Maiii  is  his  contention  with  Mauika. 
*.  Some  traditions  make  him  to  be  the  grandfather  of  Maui ; 
others  deny  it.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  kind  of  Maori  Pluto  ; 
his  body  was  filled  with  fire.  The  name  Maui-ka  seems  to 
imply  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Maui  family  and  distin- 
guished by  his  being  fire ;  at  any  rate^  it  is  generally  supposed 
that  fire  first  proceeded  from  him.  Some  traditions  represent 
Mauika  as  being  a  woman. 

Behold  Mauika  had  fire  in  his  fingers  and  toes ;  when  Maui 
knew  this  he  went  to  kill  him  by  his  cunning :  when  he 
came  to  his  ancestor  he  inquired  the  object  of  his  visit ;  Maui 
replied^  to  obtain  a  little  fire.  Mauika  immediately  gave 
him  one  of  his  fingers^  the  koiti  or  little  one.  Maui  left  him, 
and  went  straight  to  the  water  and  extinguished  it.  When  it 
was  put  out  he  returned  again  to  Mauika,  and  said  that  his 
fire  had  gone  out :  he  inquired,  how  is  it  that  the  fire  is  extin- 
guished ;  he  replied,  I  fell  into  the  water.  He  cut  off  another 
finger,  the  manawa,  or  ring  finger.  Maui  went,  and  when  he 
came  to  the  water  he  extinguished  it  also,  and  then  wetted  his 
hand  with  the  water,  that  Mauika  might  think  what  he  said 
was  true.  Again  he  presented  himself  before  him,  and  asks 
for  some  fire.  .  The  reason  of  his  continually  asking  for  fire  of 
Mauika  was  that  all  the  fire  in  his  fingers  and  toes  might  be 
exhausted,  lest  he  should  burn  him  with  it.  This  he  kept 
constantly  doing :  he  got  successively  the  maperey  or  middle 
finger,  and  the  koroa,  or  fore  finger,  and  the  rorigo  matua,  or 
thumb :  having  finished  the  fingers,  he  then  tried  to  obtain 
the  toes,  and  got  all  but  the  great  toe.     Maui  cried,  give  me 

*  This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Rev.  G.  Stannard,  Wesleyan  Minister  of  Wai- 
totara,  a  gentleman  who  has  searched  more  into  the  roota  of  words  than  most 
of  onr  Maori  scholars. 

f  Maui  is  also  the  name  of  a  game  closely  resembling  ''cats  cradles/'  which 
represents  the  different  scenes  of  the  Maori  creation,  such  as  Hine-nui-te-po, 
Maui's  fish,  &c. 


30  MYTHOLOGY. 

the  remaining  toe.  Mauika  said,  No,  Maui,  you  have  some 
bad  design  towards  me.  Maui  then  tossed  the  fire  from  his 
handy  and  burned  Mauika  with  it,  as  well  as  the  land  and  the 
trees.  Maui  himself  was  all  but  consumed ;  he  fled  in  one  direc- 
tion,  and  the  fire  pursuing  him  there,  then  he  fled  in  another ; 
but  the  consuming  flames  still  followed  him,  and  finding  no 
refuge  on  earth,  he  flew  up  into  the  air,  and  called  for  the  small 
rain ;  but  still  being  encircled  with  flames,  he  called  for  the  greater 
rain,  and  that  not  sufiicing,  he  then  called  for  the  heavy  rain, 
which  came  pouring  down  in  torrents,  and  soon  extinguished 
the  flames,  and  flooded  the  land.  When  the  waters  reached  the 
tiki  tiki  or  top-knot  of  Mauika's  head,  theseedsof  fire  which  had 
taken  refuge  there,  fled  to  the  Rata,  Hinau,  Kaikatea,  Rimu, 
Matai,  and  Miro ;  but  these  trees  would  not  admit  them.  They 
then  fled  to  the  Patete,  Kaikomako,  Mahohe,  Totara,  and 
Puke  tea,  and  they  received  them.  These  are  the  trees  from 
which  fire  is  still  to  be  obtained  by  friction. 

Emboldened  by  his  success  in  thus  destroying  Mauika, 
and  extinguishing  his  fire,  he  next  tried  to  put  out  the  sun 
and  moon.  He  set  snares  to  catch  them,  and  kept  repeating 
his  work,  but  in  vain ;  for  as  often  as  he  placed  his  traps, 
the  powerful  rays  of  the  sun  bit  them  in  two.  After  all 
this  hot  work,  Maui  naturally  became  very  thirsty;  he, 
therefore,  asked  the  Tieke  to  go  and  bring  him  some  water. 
The  bird  paid  no  attention  to  his  request ;  he  threw  it  into  the 
water.  He  then  called  another  bird,  the  Hihi :  and  asked  it 
to  go  and  bring  him  some  water;  it  also  took  no  notice  of  his 
request :  he  cast  it  into  the  fire,  and  its  feathers  were  burned  in 
the  flames,  which  accounts  for  its  color.  He  next  tried  the  Toto- 
ara,  but  it  did  not  comply  with  his  request :  he  placed  a  streak 
of  white  near  its  nose,  as  a  mark  for  its  incivility.  Maui  next 
asked  the  Kokako ;  that  bird  was  immediately  obedient  to  his 
wish.  When  it  reached  the  water  it  filled  its  ears ;  and 
then  returned  to  Maui ;  he  drank  and  quenched  his  thirst : 
as  a  reward  he  pulled  the  birds  legs  to  make  them  long, 
because  he  was  attentive  to  his  wish  and  brought  him  water. 

His  last  work  was  to  do  away  with  death.  He  noticed  that 
the  sun  and  moon  were  not  to  be  killed,  because  they  bathed 


MYTHOLOGY.  31 

in  the  living  fountain,  the  Wai  ora  Tane;  he  determined, 
therefore,  to  do  the  same  and  to  enter  the  womb  of  Hine-nui- 
te-po,  that  is  Hades,  where  the  living  water — the  life-giving 
stream — wassituated.*  Hine-nui-te-po  draws  all  intoherwomb, 
but  permits  none  to  return.  Maui  determined  to  try,  trust- 
ing to  his  great  powers  ;  but  before  he  made  the  attempt,  he 
strictly  charged  his  friends,  the  birds,  not  to  laugh.  He  then 
allowed  great  mother  night  to  draw  him  into  her  womb.  His 
head  and  shoulders  had  already  entered,  when  that  forgetful 
bird,  the  Piwaka-waka,  began  to  laugh.  Night  closed  her 
portals,  Maui  was  cut  in  two  and  died !  Thus  death  came 
into  the  world!  Had  not  the  Piwaka-waka  laughed,  Maui 
would  have  drank  of  the  living  stream,  and  man  would  never 
have  died.     Such  was  the  end  of  Maui ! 

He  does  not  appear  to  have  been  generally  prayed  to  as  a 
god ;  yet  he  was  invoked  for  their  kumara  crops  and  success  in 
fishing.  A  karakia,  or  pure,  addressed  to  him  begins  as  follows : 

Maui  e  hoea  mai  to  hem, 

Mo  nga  pa  tuna, 

Te  hem  o  Maui, 

Ko  i  wano  ai,  whiti  mai 

Te  marama,  &c.,  &c. 
Maui  is  also  said  to  have  tattoed  the  lips  of  the  native  dog ; 
and  that  accounts  for  its  muzzle  being  always  black.-)- 

*  One  account  states  that  his  object  was  to  kill  Iline-nui-te-po,  and  carry 
oflT  her  heart. 

t  Ko  ta  Maui  uhi,  i  taia  ki  te  Kuri,  ko  ta  te  kahuitara  i  taia  ki  ic  rangi,  ka 
kikiwai,  kairunga  i  taia  ano  hoki  ki  te  tangata 


▲   MEBE  MKBE. 


CHAPTER    III. 
MYTHOLOGY. 


After  Maui  came  a  host  of  gods,*  each  of  which  had  his 
history  and  his  wonderful  deeds,  which  entitled  him  to  a  place 
in  the  Maori  calendar.     These  were  ancestors,  who  became 


le  of  the  ereatiTe  fathers  :— 
parent  (bj  some  the  mother]  of  the  tu 


,  of  birds  in  general 


2    Ra,  the  faUier  of  lakes  and  ri 


MYTHOLOGY.  *  33 

deified  by  their  respective  tribes,  and  thus  each  tribe  had  its 
peculiar  gods.  Tu,  was  the  great  god  of  war  in  the  north,  and 
MarUy  in  the  south.  Bongo-mat  was  the  chief  god  of  Taupo. 
There  were  also  gods  who  had  human  forms,  and  others  who 
had  those  of  reptiles ;  as  in  geology  there  is  a  reptile  age,  so  there 
was  one  in  the  mythology  of  New  Zealand.  At  one  period  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  mixed  offspring  from  the  same  parents ; 
thus,  whilst  Tawaki  was  of  the  human  form,  his  brethren  were 
lizards  and  sharks ;  and  there  were  likewise  mixed  marriages 
amongst  them.  It  shows  how  low  the  mind  of  man  may  fall, 
when  given  up  to  strong  delusions.  These  ancestral  gods  still 
hold  their  places  in  the  genealogical  tables  of  the  different 
tribes ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  supernatural  powers  are  said 
to  have  been  possessed  by  certain  families  almost  up  to  the 
present  time.  At  Waitotara  there  is  reported  to  have  been 
a  winged  race  of  men,*  whose  descendants  are  still  remaining : 

3  Rupe,  the  father  of  the  pigeon. 

4  Tangaroa,  the  father  of  the  fish. 

5  Jrawaru,  the  father  of  dogs. 

6  Nga-rangi'hore,  the  father  of  stones. 

7  Mauika,  the  father  of  fire. 

8  Maui,  the  father  of  land. 

9  Mumuhanga,  the  father  of  the  Totara. 

10  Parauri,  the  father  of  the  Tui.     Tane  and  Pararui  were  married. 

11  Papa,  the  father  of  the  Kiwi. 

12  Otoa,  the  father  of  the  dog  :  he  was  also  the  father  of  Jrawaru. 

13  Pahiko,  the  father  of  the  Kaka. 

14  Punga,  the  father  of  the  shark,  tuatini,  and  lizard. 
16  Tutemanoa,  the  father  of  the  Kahikatoa. 

16  Hina-moki,  the  father  of  the  rat. 

17  Tuwairore,  the  father  of  the  Kahikatea  and  Rimu. 

18  Haere-awa-atoa,  the  father  of  the  Wcka. 

19  Rongo,  the  father  of  the  Kumara. 

20  Tiki,  the  father  of  man. 

21  Tute-nga-na?iau,  the  father  of  evil. 

22  Tahu,  the  father  of  all  good. 

23  Tawiri-matea,  the  father  of  the  wind. 

*  Whanaa  Moana  o  te  tamaiti  tua  torn  o  Turi,  ka  panga  tona  ewe  ki  te 
moana,  ka  pae  ana  ki  te  one,  ara  ki  te  oraura.  ka  kitea  e  nga  tangata,  ka  tongo- 
hia  mai,  wiUta-iria  ki  te  tunga  roa  o  te  whare,  i  kitea  atu  ka  korikori,  kua  wai 
tangata,  no  te  putanga  mai  he  tangata,  ka  rere  mai  ka  whai  mai  i  tona  tinana 
Whanau  Moana,  ka  noho  ai  ki  Wai  totara,  ko  tai  ake,  o  te  one  kaha  wai,  na 

D 


.t. 


34  MYTHOLOGY. 

die  last  person  who  possessed  wings,  lost  them  by  his  wife 
unfortunately  happening  to  lie  down  upon  them. 

In  fact,  in  the  accounts  which  the  natives  give  of  their  gods, 
and  of  their  exploits,  we  have  but  a  magnified  history  of  their 
chiefs,  their  wars,  murders,  and  lusts,  with  the  addition  of 
some  supernatural  powers.  They  were  cannibals ;  they  were 
influenced  by  like  feelings  and  passions  with  men,  and  they 
were  uniformly  bad.  To  them  were  ascribed  all  the  evils  to 
which  the  human  race  is  subject ;  each  disease  was  supposed 
to  be  occasioned  by  a  different  god,  who  resided  in  the 
part  affected.  Thus,  Tonga  was  the  god  who  caused  head- 
ache and  sickness ;  he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  forehead. 
Moko  Titi,  a  lizard  god,  was  the  source  of  all  pains  in  the 
breast;  Tu-tangata-kino  was  the  god  of  the  stomach;  Titi- 
hai  occasioned  pains  in  the  ankles  and  feet ;  Rongomai  and 
Tuparitapu  were  the  gods  of  consumption,  and  the  wasting 
away  of  the  legs  and  arms  ;  Koro-kio-ewe  presided  over  child- 
birth, and  did  his  worst  to  unfortimate  females  in  that  state. 
In  fact,  the  entire  human  body  appears  to  have  been  shared 
out  amongst  those  evil  beings,  who  ruled  over  every  part, 
to  afflict  and  pain  the  poor  creatures  who  worshipped  them. 
This  portioning  out  of  the  body  was,  however,  much  the 
same  amongst  the  heathen  generaUy.  The  Greek  and  Roman 
mythology  had  their  gods  and   goddesses,  each  having  his 

ka  puta  ki  waho  ko  Tararere,  ko  Tarapunga  te  Manu  i  te  ra  Tarakapu  whenua 
Kapunga  rauru. 

Whanau  Moana  was  the  offspring  of  Turi*s  third  son;  his  navel  string 
having  been  thrown  into  the  sea,  drifted  on  the  shore,  where  it  was  seen  by 
some  persons,  who  carried  it  away,  and  suspended  it  to  the  ridge  pole  of  their 
house ;  they  noticed  that  it  moved  about  and  had  life ;  it  grew  up  a  man  and 
had  wings;  he  was  called  Whanau  Moana,  and  lived  on  the  side  of  Wai-totara 
next  the  sea;  he  became  the  father  of  Tararere,  Tarapunga,  the  bird  of 
the  day.  Tarakapu  whenua,  Kapunga  rauru.  These  winged  people  flew 
openly  in  the  day ;  at  first  they  had  no  regular  home,  but  went  abroad  from 
one  place  to  another,  sometimes  alighting  on  the  top  of  mountains,  some- 
times flying  to  some  island  of  the  sea,  until  one  of  their  number,  named 
Tara  pu-whenua,  caused  them  to  dwell  in  pas.  This  wonderful  race 
belonged  exclusively  to  Waitotara,  and  lived  at  Tieki  Moerangi.  The  Ust 
person  who  had  wings  was  Te  Kahui-rere;  he  lost  them  by  a  woman  pressing 
them  down  when  he  was  asleep. 


MTTHOLOQY.  35 

or  her  peculiar  department,  and  they  have  been  succeeded 
by  the  male  and  female  saints  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
churches,  which  have  thus  carefully  preserved  a  close  rela- 
tionship to  their  venerated  heathen  ancestors. 

There  is  one  of  the  native  gods  who  bears  a  remarkable 
resemblance  to  Mars.  Like  him,  Maru  is  the  god  of  war ; 
he  was  killed  and  eaten  when  on  earth,  but  his  divinity  flew 
up  to  heaven,  and  the  planet  Mars,  from  his  fiery  color,  is 
called  Maru.     This  god  had  many  names,  as 

Mam  i  tc  Aewa 
,,  —  Koeta 
,,  —  Anaunau 
,,  —  Waka  tamara 
„  —  Tahuri  mai 
,,  —  Takotua 
,,  —  Tawakarcrc 
„  — '  Riri 
„  —  Nguha 
„  —  Mataitai 

These  names  were  descriptive  of  his  various  evil  qualities ; 
his  going  to  and  fro  as  an  adversary ;  chattering  defiance ; 
looking  down  malignantly ;  causing  disease ;  flaming  with 
wrath ;  full  of  anger  and  bitterness.  We  can  scarcely  have 
a  more  perfect  description  of  the  evil  spirit.  Maru  was 
a  god  of  the  Sandwich  Isles.  This  deity  being  constantly 
engaged  in  evil,  had  no  time  to  grow  food,  and  was  indig- 
nant if  he  were  not  liberally  supplied,  and  with  the  best.  He 
must  have  been  a  god  highly  esteemed  by  his  priests,  who 
grew  fat  in  his  service. 

A  native  history  of  one  of  these  gods  will  be  a  specimen  of 
all,  and  such  narratives  furnish  a  faithful  index  of  the  national 
mind.  No  god  figures  more  in  the  Maori  mythology  of  later 
ages  than  Tawaki.  Originally  men  were  not  aware  that  he  was  a 
god,  until  one  day  he  ascended  a  lofty  hill,  and  some  one  who  was 
cutting  brush  wood,  saw  him  throw  aside  his  vile  garments,  and 
clothe  himself  with  the  lightning:  they  then  knew  he  was  a  god. 

When  Waitiri  (his  grandmother)  descended  from  heaven, 
the  fame  of  Kai-tangata  and  his  bravery  reached  her ;  on  her 

d2 


36  MYTHOLOGY. 

arriving  near  his  dwellings  she  slew  her  favorite  slave  Anonokia, 
and  took  out  his  lungs  as  an  offering  for  Kai-tangata ;  which, 
when  she  came  to  him,  she  presented.  Kai-tangata  feared  her. 
Waitiri  said,  the  fame  of  your  bravery  reached  me ;  it  was  an 
uncertain  report,  however.  I  immediately  came  to  judge  for 
myself,  and  have  killed  my  favourite  slave,  to  propitiate  your 
favour.  They  became  man  and  wife :  their  first  bom  was 
Punga,  afterwards  Karihi,  and  the  youngest  Hema. 

Their  children  were  not  particularly  clean.  Kai-tangata 
turned  up  his  nose  and  said,  Hu !  the  filthy  children !  Wai- 
tiri was  offended.  She  then  gave  names  to  her  children,  and 
said  to  them,  Punga,  the  anchor  of  your  father's  canoe,  this 
is  the  name  for  the  elder ;  for  the  second,  the  Karihi,  or 
sinker  of  your  father's  net;  for  my  youngest,  I  leave  as  a 
name  Whaka  Makanga,  my  shame,  on  accoimt  of  your  father's 
word  about  your  filth.  Afterwards  she  ascended  to  heaven ; 
her  parting  words  were, — When  Punga  has  children,  do  not 
let  them  follow  me ;  she  called  to  Karihi,  when  you  have 
grown  up,  do  not  suffer  your  children  to  go  and  seek  me ; 
when  my  Waka  Makanga  has  a  child,  he  may  come  to 
me ;  these  were  the  parting  words  of  Waitiri ;  she  then 
ascended  up  to  heaven.  When  Kai-tangata  returned  from 
the  sea,  he  asked  his  children.  Where  is  your  mother? — 
They  answered,  she  has  gone  to  heaven,  to  her  dwelling 
place.  Kai-tangata  inquired,  what  did  she  say  to  you? — 
She  said,  that  Punga,  the  anchor  of  your  canoe,  was  to  be 
my  name ;  that  for  this  here  (pointing  to  his  brother),  the 
uame  was  to  be  Karihi,  the  sinker  of  your  net ;  that  for 
our  sister,  the  Waka  Makanga  of  our  toother,  for  your  turn- 
ing up  your  nose  at  our  fifth :  they  went  and  showed  the 
Paepae  to  their  father. 

The  offspring  of  Punga  and  Karihi  were  the  lizard,  shark, 
and  dog-fish.  The  child  of  Hema  was  Tawaki.  The  elder 
brethren  took  Muri-waka-roto  and  Kohuhango  as  their  wives : 
these  women  were  not  satisfied  with  their  husbands;  they 
preferred  Tawaki.  His  elder  relatives  hated  him ;  they  said, 
let  us  go  to  Wai-ranga-tuhi,  where  he  had  gone  to  wash. 
Tawaki  prayed — 


MYTHOLOGY.  37 

'*  Let  the  morning  spring  forth  :  give  me  my  comb,  my  beautiful 
comb,  that  I  may  arise  and  go  to  the  water  of  Eangatuhi, 
Bangatuhi." 

They  found  their  brother  there,  and  slew  him:  after  he 
was  dead,  they  returned  home.  Muri-waka-roto  demanded, 
where  is  your  younger  brother  ?  Mango  (the  shark)  said,  at 
the  water  combing  his  hair.  She  waited  a  long  time,  and  then 
went  and  called  Tawaki-e-.  The  Pukeko  (a  bird)  answered, 
-ke-.  She  went  and  again  called  to  Tawaki.  The  Moho 
(another  bird)  answered,  -hu-.  She  returned  home  and  said, 
you  have  killed  your  brother  :  they  confessed  they  had  done 
so.  They  inquired  if  he  did  not  answer  her  call ;  she  replied, 
the  Pukeko  and  the  Moho  were  the  only  things  which  heard 
her.  No,  Tawaki  is  gone  to  karakia,  and  to  mix  his  blood 
with  water-blood,  with  star-blood,  with  the  blood  of  what  ? 
With  the  blood  of  the  moon,  with  the  blood  of  the  sun,  and 
the  blood  of  Rangi-Mahuki ;  this  is  the  flowing  of  Tawaki 's 
blood,  truly  the  causing  his  blood  to  grow,*  that  he  might  be 
restored  to  life.  Tawaki  is  alive  again  !  He  slept  soundly 
on  the  sea  shore  after  his  resurrection  from  below,  from  the 
Reinga,  he  sleeps  by  the  sea  side  ;  a  great  wave  appeared, 
rolling  in  from  afar ;  that  wave  came  to  kill  Tawaki,  but  his 
ancestor,  the  Kaiaia  (the  sparrow  hawk),  appeared,  and  cryed, 
ke-ke-ke-ke.  Tawaki  awoke;  he  started  up  from  his  sleep, 
he  seized  a  stick,  and  (casting  it)  defied  the  wave,  it  glanced 
on  one  side  of  the  billow,  which  was  drifting  towards  him 
from  afar.  Enough.  Tawaki  left  the  shore  and  went  inland. 
His  uncle  Karihi  overtook  him  ;  they  wept  together. 

Afterwards  they  arrived  at  the  outside,  or  verge  of  heaven, 
and  at  the  fence,  which  divided  it  from  the  earth.  Tawaki 
called  out  to  his  uncle.  Do  you  climb  up  first  ?  His  relative 
answered.  No,  do  you  go  before.  Tawaki  again  called  upon 
him  to  go  first.  His  uncle  did  so,  and  laid  hold  with  his 
hands  on  the  fence  which  encircled  it.  Whilst  Karihi  was 
climbing  up,  Tawaki  uttered  this  charm  : — 

*  The  union  of  all  these  kinds  of  blood  formed  life,  and  thus  resuscitated 
Tawaki. 


38  AfYTHOLOGY. 

£  tu  te  rang!  motuhia;  Stand  the  severed  heaven, 

E  tu  te  rang!  pnkai,  Stand  the  heaped  up  sky, 

Pukai  atu  ana,  Heaped  up  apart  from  the  earth. 

I  raro  ite  whenua. 
His  uncle  slipped  down  to  the  earth,  quite  down  to  the  ground. 
When  Karihi  came  to  him,  he  said,  it  was  your  spell  which 
made  me  fall,  otherwise  I  should  liave  quite  ascended.  Tawaki 
denied  his  having  uttered  any :  now,  said  he,  do  you  remain, 
and  let  me  try.  Tawaki's  hand  laid  hold  of  the  fence,  and  he 
uttered  this  spell : — 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  first  heaven :         let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  second  heaven :    let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  third  heaven :       let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  fourth  heaven  :     let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  fifth  heaven  :        let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  sixth  heaven :       let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  seventh  heaven :  let  the  fedr  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  eighth  heaven :     let  the  fedr  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  ninth  heaven :      let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

Ascend,  Tawaki,  to  the  tenth  heaven :       let  the  fair  sky  consent. 

CUng,  cling,  like  the  lizard,  to  the  ceiling. 

Stick,  stick  close  to  the  side  of  heaven. 
Tawaki  succeeded ;  he  reached  the  sky  ;♦  he  cut  off  the  road 
by  which  he  ascended.  His  uncle  called  to  him  to  turn  back, 
and  help  him  to  get  up.  But  he  answered  from  above.  No, 
you  all  aided  in  my  murder.  He  then  went  on  and  arrived  at 
the  dwelling-place  of  his  grandmother,  Waitiri :  he  came 
up  to  her;  she  was  blind,  sitting  down  counting  her  seed 
kumara.  One  kumara,  two  kumara,  &c.,  ten  kumara  [toto 
tahi,  toto  rua,  toto,  &c.  toto  tekau,  &c.] ;  he  pulled  one  of  them 
to  his  side,  there  remained  nine ;  missing  the  tenth  she  counted 
them  over  again ;  one  kumara,  &c. ;  where  is  the  tenth  ? 
Tawaki  took  the  ninth,  and  left  eight.  Waitiri  recounted, 
and  missed  another ;  she  again  counted,  and  he  took  another, 
until  all  were  gone.  Waitiri  then  enquired,  who  is  this,  that 
is  playing  tricks  upon  me,  and  taking  away  my  seed  kumara  ? 
Tawaki  said,  It  is  I,  Waitiri.     She  said,  you,  who  are  you  ? 

*  It  is  said  that  Tawaki  ascended  to  heaven  by  a  spider *8  tiiread.    Another 
tradition  states,  that  Waitiri  uttered  the  spell,  and  Tawaki  slipped  down. 


MYTHOLOGY.  39 

It  is  I,  it  is  Tawaki,  the  only  child  of  Hema.  Waitiri  ex- 
claimed, Aye,  aye,  my  grandchild.  It  was  you,  said  he,  who 
gave  your  last  command  that  I  should  come  and  seek  you. 
Aye,  aye,  said  Waitiri,  that  is  quite  true ;  but  look  at  my 
eyes.  Tawaki  said.  What  is  the  matter  with  your  eyes  ?  By 
and  bye,  said  Waitiri,  you  shall  see :  in  the  evening  the  house 
will  be  iSlled  with  the  birds,  who  have  caused  my  blindness, 
by  scratching  them  with  their  little  claws.  Do  you  place 
yourself  in  the  stuffing  of  the  sides  of  the  house.  Tawaki 
enquired.  Where  is  their  entrance  ?  By  the  door  and  by  the 
window.  Tawaki  attended  to  her  words  ;  he  made  some 
snares  for  the  door  and  window.  When  the  sun  set,  he 
entered,  and  said.  When  all  have  come  in,  then  stop  up  the 
entrance  from  above  and  the  entrance  from  below,  that  they 
may  be  quite  awake,  and  the  day  be  advanced.  Waitiri  en- 
gaged to  do  so.  When  the  sun  set,  an  immense  flock  of  very 
little  birds  came  flying  to  the  pianga,  or  window.  Tongo-hiti 
was  one  of  them.  When  Waitiri  saw  that  they  had  filled  the* 
house,  she  closed  the  entrance  above  and  the  entrance  below ; 
then  they  slept  (the  morning  star  set) ;  they  did  not  awake ;  the 
day  dawned,  still  they  slept ;  the  rays  of  the  sun  descended, 
yet  they  did  not  arise  ;  it  was  near  noon  ;  some  of  them  ex- 
claimed, what  a  long  night.  Waitiri  called  to  them,  sleep, 
day  has  not  yet  dawned.  Tongo-hiti  and  others,  at  the  same 
time,  said,  the  night  must  have  passed  away,  daylight  must  be 
coming  on  apace,  the  night  is  so  long ;  a  trick  of  Waitiri  per- 
haps upon  us.  She  replied,  no.  Then  Tawaki  arose  and  drew 
out  the  stopping  above,  and  entered  within  the  house  ;  he 
slew  all  but  Tongo-hiti,  who  crept  out  under  the  back  post  of 
the  house,  and  escaped.  This  was  all — they  were  killed.  Tlien 
Tawaki  uttered  this  spell  over  the  eyes  of  Waitiri : — 

Irimata,  Irimata,  Wave  before  your  eyes,  wave  before  your  eyes 

Weromata,  Wcromata,     Thou  smitten  blind,  thou  smitten  blind, 

He  wai  o  mata  ki  te  ra,  Be  your  eyes  bright. 

He  hiunimai  ra,  Like  tlic  sun  that  rises  there, 

He  pa  ko  rircrirc,  Since  you  arc  so  greatly  afflicted, 

Hae  talii  ki  te  mata.        Once  to  the  eyes  of  Watitiri, 


40  MYTHOLOGY. 

0  watitiri  rua  ki  te,  Twice  to  the  eyes  of  Watitii'i, 

Mata  o  watitiri, 

Titiromai  ra.  Look  this  way, 

Kakanomai  ra,  Glance  this  way, 

Ki  te  mata  ora,  With  your  healed  eyes, 

Xi  te  mata  o  Behua,  With  your  star  like  eyes. 

Aye,  aye,  my  eyes  are  cured,  my  grandson. 

Then  Tawaki  went  and  saw  the  Toka  Tamiware,  which  stood 
there :  he  asked  the  old  woman  what  is  this  ?  Waitiri  replied, 
do  not  touch  them  with  your  hands,  they  are  your  ancestors. 
Then  Tawaki  stumbled  against  it :  the  stone  fell  down  by  the 
sea.  Tawaki  went  crying,  you  also  shall  cry,  who  slew  me. 
From  that  stone  which  fell,  commenced  the  revenge  which 
Tawaki  took  against  his  brethren.  He  drove  the  shark  and 
the  dog-fish  from  the  land,  and  compelled  them  henceforth  to 
live  in  the  sea. 

Afterwards,  Tawaki  went  to  Maru  and  his  ancestors,  that 
Jihey  might  strive  to  kill  him,  in  order  to  shew  them  his  great 
power.  Maru  cries  out  to  him,  that  he  is  his  adversary. 
Tutenganahan  cried  out,  that  he  also  was  his  adversary ; 
Rehua  cried  out,  he  was  his  adversary.  Tawaki  went  straight 
to  Maru,  the  man  of  war,  to  devise  his  death.  Tawaki  saw 
He  Wata,  the  sacred  food  store  of  Maru :  the  oil  stood  within 
it.  Tawaki  eat  some  of  it ;  he  uttered  a  spell  to  take  off 
its  tapu ;  then  Maru  took  away  the  tapu  of  Tawaki ;  by  his 
spell  he  cursed  every  member  of  his  body.  The  gods,  his 
associates,  held  a  solemn  feast  to  destroy  Tawaki,  but  quarrelled 
about  the  head  of  an  eel  on  which  they  had  feasted;  each 
wanted  it  for  himself;  and  at  last  Maru  obtained  it,  which 
caused  contentions  amongst  themselves.  One  party  went  by 
the  sea-shore,  headed  by  Maru ;  they  saw  Rongomai,  in  the 
shape  of  a  great  whale,  laid  on  the  shore,  with  the  flies 
swarming  about  him.  Thinking  it  was  a  dead  whale,  Maru 
ordered  an  oven  to  be  heated,  to  cook  their  prize ;  and  when 
it  was  ready,  they  began  to  roll  the  body  into  it.  This 
awoke  Rongomai,  and  he  immediately  arose  and  sleiw  them 
all,  and  cast  their  bodies  into  the  oven  prepared  for  himself. 


MYTHOLOGY.  41 

and  eat  them.  Mam,  the  god,  flew  up  to  heaven ;  but  liis 
body  was  devoured,  and  had  not  he  taken  refuge  in  the  fissure 
of  a  rock,  his  divinity  also  would  have  been  destroyed. 

Such  is  a  portion  of  a  very  long  myth;  a  great  deal  of 
which  will  not  bear  repeating.  It  is  interesting  as  shewing 
what  were  their  ideas  of  their  gods,  and  of  heaven,  which, 
from  this  account,  differed  little  from  the  earth ;  it  had  its 
dwellings,  its  cultivations,  the  same  as  the  earth ;  its  inhabitants 
had  their  labors,  quarrels,  passions,  need  of  food,  like  men. 
The  persons  alluded  to,  were  chief  gods.  There  are  many  others, 
but  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  name  more — they  had  gods  many 
and  lords  many.  The  way  in  which  their  gods  manifested 
themselves  to  men,  were  various — the  whirlwind  indicated  the 
presence  of  a  deity ;  the  rain-bow  was  exclusively  the  property 
of  Uenuku ;  the  lightning  and  thunder  belonged  to  Whiro ; 
meteors,  or  any  unaccountable  noise,  were  tokens  of  the 
presence  of  a  god.  Sometimes  they  manifested  themselves  in 
the  forms  of  spiders,  moths,  and  flies ;  but  most  chiefly  by 
the  mouths  of  their  priests,  of  which  they  took  possession. 
During  that  period,  the  person  thus  possessed  appeared  quite 
frantic,  uttering  the  most  fearful  cries,  and  being  distorted 
in  every  limb ;  whilst  in  this  state,  every  thing  he  said, 
or  did,  was  considered  as  the  immediate  act  of  the  god  within 
him. 

Heroes  were  thought  to  become  stars,  of  greater  or  less 
brightness,  according  to  the  number  of  their  victims  slain  in 
fight;  they  scooped  out  their  eyes  and  swallowed  them,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  spirit  and  power  of  the  enemy  slain.  The 
spirit  of  a  chief,  thus  consuming  those  of  the  chiefs  slain,  was 
raised  above  men ;  he  became  a  god  even  upon  earth,  and 
after  death,  a  bright  luminary  of  heaven. 

Of  the  gods  of  the  night,  Hine-nui-te-po  ranks  the  highest, 
more  being  spoken  of  her,  than  of  all  the  others ;  and  yet, 
she  only  appears  to  be  a  personification  of  night  and  Hades. 
Prayers,  however,  were  addressed  to  her.  She  was  known  in 
Tonga,  Tahaiti,  and  Hawaii,  with  a  slight  change  of  name 
and  history.  Po,  or  night,  was  the  great  name  for  Hades, 
although,  in  general,  the  Reinga,  which  is  only  the  entrance 


42  MrraoLOGY. 

to  it)  is  spoken  of,  instead  of  the  place  itself.  The  word 
reinga,  literally  meaning  the  place  where  these  spirits  jumped 
into  Po. 

The  general  estimation  in  which  the  gods  were  held  by  the 
natives^  was  not  a  slavish  one.  They  rather  regarded  them  as 
powerful  enemies,  who  were  to  be  rendered  harmless  by  the 
aid  of  powerful  charms  or  spells ;  and  to  avoid  their  ill  will, 
offerings  were  made  to  them :  still,  they  firmly  believed  in 
their  existence  and  power  of  visibly  interfering  with  human 
affairs.*    The  High  Chiefs,  or  Arikis,  as  well  as  the  Tohungas, 

*  The  following  acconnt  was  given  by  a  Chief,  who  was  in  a  war  expedition 
against  the  Ngatiawa,  at  Otaki.  They  were  endeaTouring  to  storm  the  powerful 
pa  Kakutu,  at  Rangi-uru.  At  noon,  when  encamped  opposite  the  beleaguered 
place,  Puta,  the  Priest  of  Taupo,  who  was  in  their  party,  stood  and  prayed 
to  Rongo-mai,  the  great  god  of  his  tribe,  that  he  would  manifest  himself  in 
their  favor,  and  give  the  pa  into  their  hands.  Immediately  a  great  noise  was 
heard  in  the  heavens,  and  they  saw  Rongo-mai  rushing  through  the  air,  his 
form,  which  is  that  of  a  whale,  was  of  fire,  with  a  great  head ;  he  flew  straight 
into  the  pa,  which  he  entered  with  his  head  downwards,  knocking  up  the 
dust  which  arose  in  a  cloud  with  a  crash  like  thunder.  The  Priest  said  in  two 
days  the  place  would  be  taken,  which  accordingly  came  to  pass.  My  informant, 
a  very  sensible  Christian  Chief,  believed  it  was  actually  the  god  who  appeared, 
bid  him  draw  his  form,  which  he  did ;  it  was  evidently  a  meteor,  and  a 
very  bright  one,  to  have  been  thus  apparent  at  noon.  It  is  remarkable  that 
it  should  have  been  seen  at  the  very  moment  the  Priest  was  praying  for  his 
god  to  appear,  and  further  that  it  should  have  fallen  into  the  very  pa  they 
were  attacking.  It  was  natural  that  it  should  have  been  regarded  as  a  favora- 
ble omen  by  one,  and  as  the  contrary  by  the  others ;  but  had  the  besieged 
not  been  intimidated,  and  fought  courageously  and  conquered,  then  it  would 
doubtless  have  been  considered  as  a  favorable  omen  for  them.  It  is  according 
to  the  result  that  these  sights  are  estimated,  and  as  many  are  seen  without 
anything  remarkable  occurring,  so  nothing  is  thought  of  them,  but  only  of  the 
few  which  are  attended  with  a  particular  result,  as  in  this  instance.  A  similar 
case  occurred  to  me  during  a  journey  into  the  interior  of  the  Island.  I  was 
preaching  from  the  words,  ''Behold  I  saw  Satan  like  lightning  fall  from 
heaven."  I  had  no  sooner  concluded,  than  the  chapel,  a  dark  building  of 
raupo,  with  only  the  door  and  a  small  aperture  to  adroit  the  light,  was  sud- 
denly illuminated ;  we  all  rushed  out,  and  saw  a  splendid  meteor,  like  a  drawn 
sword.  My  congregation,  with  almost  one  voice,  exclaimed,  "there  is  Satan 
falluig  from  heaven.*'  My  son  once  saw  a  brilliant  meteor  in  the  middle  of 
the  day,  he  immediately  ran  into  the  house  to  tell  us,  but  we  were  only  just 
in  time  to  sec  its  receding  rays.  Some  few  years  ago  four  or  five  meteoric 
stones  were  seen  at  Wanganui,  during  the  day,  rushing  with  great  noise  and 
brightness  through  the  air ;  they  flew  in  a  crescent  form,  and  appeared  to  fall 


MYTHOLOGY.  43 

were  supposed  to  be  able^  at  all  times,  to  hold  visible  inter- 
course with  them.     These  p^ods  were  supposed  even  to  form 
attachments  with  females,  and  to  pay  them  repeated  visits.* 
Even  the  spirits  of  children  are  supposed  frequently  to  re- 

8o  near  that  some  Europeans  who  were  there  went  in  search  of  them.   Meteors 
are  very  frequently  seen  in  New  Zealand. 

*  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  fell  more  immediately  under  my 
notice.  One  morning  a  natiye  came  to  me  with  a  very  long  countenance,  and 
said,  that  the  Tanpos  were  coming  to  fight  against  us,  with  a  determination 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  *'  waka  pono,"  as  the  Christian  religion  is  called.  I 
inquired  where  he  got  the  news  from ;  he  told  me  a  female  named  Erina  had 
seen  the  enemy ;  and  upon  further  questioning  him,  he  said  the  ^fua,  who  was  in 
love  with  her,  had  showed  her  the  hostile  party.  I  laughed  at  him,  and  replied, 
if  that  were  all  he  knew  about  the  Taupo  enemy,  I  should  not  haye  much  fear. 
I  went,  however,  to  the  woman,  and  told  her  I  was  sorry  to  hear  she  had  been 
spreading  such  an  idle  tale ;  she  said  it  was  not  M:^  but  the  spirit  who  came 
to  her.  I  inquired  how  did  he  inform  you  of  what  is  coming  to  pass.  She 
said  he  bid  me  hold  out  my  hand,  and  he  put  a  drop  of  blood  in  it,  telling  me 
to  look  attentively  into  it :  I  did  so,  and  I  saw  Te  Heu-heu  Herekickie  and 
several  other  Taupo  chiefs  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  church,  with  you 
and  the  teachers  standing  before  it.  He  told  me  it  was  a  taua  (or  war)  against 
the  church.  I  said  pray  what  form  did  the  spirit  appear  in  ?  She  answered, 
he  came  as  a  shadow.  I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  remembrance  of  this, 
when  some  years  afterwards  I  read  an  almost  counterpart  of  it  in  Lanei'g 
Egypt,  That  an  ignorant  g^l  should  hit  upon  so  close  a  resemblance  was  very 
remarkable. 

The  Briata  Kite  or  seers  pretend  to  do  many  supernatural  things,  and  to 
cause  their  gods  to  appear  at  pleasure ;  but  from  my  personal  knowledge  of 
many  of  them,  I  am  persuaded  they  are  ventriloquists,  and  thus  deceive  the 
people,  although  in  some  cases,  they  may  deceive  themselves  with  the  idea  that 
the  god  is  in  them ;  generally,  however,  they  are  gross  impostors,  who  only 
seek  gain  or  influence  by  their  pretended  powers. 

A  gentleman  who  resided  several  years  in  New  Zealand,  and  travelled  a 
great  deal  amongst  the  natives,  had  once  an  opportunity  of  seeing  this 
pretended  power  exercised ;  he  was  in  company  with  two  young  natives,  one 
an  heathen  chief  of  some  rank,  who  expressed  his  firm  belief,  not  only  in  the 
existence  of  their  gods,  but  likewise  in  their  willingness  to  appear  to  their  own 
relatives  when  asked  to  do  so.  He  was  told  that  he  could  not  believe  such  to 
be  possible,  but  if  he  actually  saw  one  in  their  gods,  then  he  should  cease  to 
doubt  their  existence ;  the  young  chief  immediately  offered  to  give  the  proof 
demanded,  he  invited  the  unbelieving  European  to  accompany  him,  to  an 
old  lady,  who  formerly  had  exorcised  this  power.  It  was  in  the  evening 
when  the  conversation  took  place;  they  wont  directly  to  her  abode.  She 
was  then  living  in  a  little  mahinga  or  cultivation  at  some  distance  from 
the  village.     They  found  her  sitting  in  a  long  shed  by  the  side  of  a  fire. 


44  MYTIIOLCXSY. 

turn  as  gods,  and  heal  the  sick  who  come  to  tliem.  Some 
years  ago,  a  child  named  Mati  was  said  to  have  thus  reappeared  ; 
numbers  went  and  carried  their  sick  to  him ;  he  always  told 
them  he  knew  what  was  the  matter  with  them — they  had  a 


After  some  general  conversation,  the  young  chief  made  her  acquainted  with 
the  object  of  their  visit,  telling  her  that  their  companion,  the  European,  did 
not  believe  in  the  existence  of  native  gods,  or  that  they  could  hold  inter- 
course with  men,  and  therefore  he  wished  her  to  show  him  that  such  was 
really  the  case,  by  giving  him  an  actual  proof.    For  some  time  she  hesitated, 
stating  that  she  had  given  up  such  things,  and  had  become  a  praying  woman ; 
at  last,  however,  after  much  entreaty,  she  consented,  and  bid  one  of  the 
party  take  away  some  of  the  brands  from  the  fire,  and  throw  them  outside, 
as  the  gods  did  not  like  too  much  light,  (which  was  doubtless  very  true.) 
This  was  accordingly  done.    The  old  woman  sat  crouched  down  by  the  fire, 
with  her  head  concealed  in  her  blanket,  swaying  her  body  to  and  fro.     The 
young  chief  laid  himself  full  length  on  the  ground,  with  his  face  downwards ; 
he  began  by  calling  on  the  different  gods  by  name,  who  were  considered  to 
be  his  relatives,  addressing  them  as  though  present ;  his  being  the  eldest  son 
of  the  eldest  branch  of  his  family,  was  supposed  to  confer  this  privilege  upon 
him.    At  first,  they  appeared  to  pay  no  attention  to  their  relative,  he  there- 
upon spoke  to  them  in  a  louder  tone,  but  still  without  success ;  at  last,  he  called 
to  them  in  an  angry  tone,  telling  them  if  they  did  not  speak,  the  European 
would  go  away  and  dbbelieve  in  their  existence ;  the  old  woman  sat  still,  and 
appeared  to  take  no  notice  of  any  thing.    The  European  kept  his  eye  steadily 
fixed  upon  her,  and  went  and  sat  by  her  side ;  suddenly  he  heard  a  scratching 
as  of  a  rat  running  up  the  raupo,  and  along  the  roof  of  the  house,  until  the 
sound  seemed  to  come  from  the  spot  exactly  over  their  heads ;  he  thought 
it  was  done  by  some  accomplice  outside,  but  he  was  not  aware  of  any  one  being 
there,  besides  the  party  in  the  house ;  he  detected  no  movement  of  the  old 
woman,  beyond  that  of  rocking  her  body  to  and  fro.    Then  he  heard  a  low 
whistle,  and  could  distinguish  the  inquiry,  what  did  they  want  with  him  ?  The 
Maori  gods  always  speak  in  a  whistling  tone.    The  young  chief  replied,  that 
they  wanted  him  to  come  and  shew  himself  to  the  European ;  ho  said  he  should 
kill  him  if  he  came ;  the  chief  insisted  that  he  should  render  himself  visible ; 
the  god  held  back,  but  the  chief  would  not  allow  his  divine  relative  to  escape; 
at  last,  he  consented  to  assume  the  form  of  a  spider,  and  alight  on  his  head. 
The  European  said,  if  he  descended  straight  on  his  head,  he  would  believe  he 
was  actually  present;  but  if  ho  only  saw  a  spider  on  his  side  or  legs,  he  should 
not  be  satisfied.    The  old  woman  then  got  up,  and  went  to  the  other  side  of 
the  hut,  and  fumbled  about  in  the  thatch  of  the  house,  as  though  she  was 
searching  for  a  spider,  to  act  the  god,  but  her  search  was  vain,  she  only  found 
a  little  beetle,  which  consumes  the  raupo.    She  then  came  and  sat  by  his  side, 
but  he  narrowly  watched  her.     The  chief  reproached  the  god  for  not 
descending  at  once  upon  his  head ;  the  god  replied  it  was  from  an  unwilling- 
ness to  injure  the  European.  He  demanded  a  blanket  for  having  spoken  to  him. 


MYTHOLOGY.  45 

lizard  in  them,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  disease.  Or,  if  the 
person  was  very  bad,  he  would  say  he  had  two  or  more  of 
these  reptiles  in  him;  and  if  extremely  ill,  that  he  had  a 
ruatara,  or  guana,  in  him.  This,  of  course,  was  very  alarm* 
ing  to  the  friends  of  the  sick,  who  would  immediately  entreat 
the  god  to  cast  out  the  reptiles,  which  he  would  readily  engage 
to  do,  although  sometimes  it  was  stipulated  beforehand  what 
remimeration  he  was  to  receive :  he  then  imitated  the  squeak- 
ing of  the  lizard,  and  told  the  parties  he  had  expelled  the 
reptile,  and  that  he  would  now  speedily  recover.  The  general 
way  adopted  by  the  gods  of  communicating  with  men  was  by 
a  whistle,  which  was  heard  on  the  roof  of  the  house;  this  used 
to  excite  great  fear  amongst  the  inmates.  I  am  persuaded  that 
ventriloquism  is  by  no  means  uncommon ;  that  some  exercise 
this  power  to  enjoy  the  fears  it  excites.  A  Catechist  allowed 
the  people  to  see  that  he  believed  their  gods  did  thus  actually 
manifest  themselves  to  men,  and  the  natural  consequence  was, 
that  the  gods  rewarded  him  with  several  displays  of  their 
presence  even  during  the  service.  The  common  term  for 
these  gods  is,  the  Altta-kikokiko.     The  account  given  of  the 


and  sud  he  had  seen  him  before  in  the  Bay  of  Islands,  which  was  false,  as  he 
had  neyer  been  there ;  but  he  at  once  assented,  to  see  whether  the  god  might 
not  tell  some  further  lies,  when  he  found  that  the  first  was  agreed  to ;  he  then 
imitated  the  Nga  puhi  dialect,  and  said,  he  had  seen  such  and  such  chiefs  with 
him,  and  several  other  things  equally  untrue,  again  repeating  his  request  for  a 
present ;  but  though  urged  to  render  himself  risible,  he  obstinately  refused, 
to  the  g^at  mortification  of  the  chief,  who  still  believed  he  actually  heard  a 
god  speak,  when  the  interview  terminated.  The  two  youths  dared  not  return 
to  the  pa ;  and  the  Christian  feeling  was  so  strong,  that  they  were  not  permitted 
to  enter  it  for  three  days.  I  a^ed  my  informant  if  he  did  not  think  the 
woman  was  a  ventriloquist  ?  he  said  that  it  had  not  struck  him  before,  but  now 
he  felt  persuaded  she  was.  He  knew  that  it  was  a  deception,  but  could  not 
find  it  out;  now  all  was  quite  clear.  He  sud  the  calling  of  the  young  chief 
on  the  gods,  reminded  him  of  the  priests  of  Baal  calling  on  their  gods.  In 
the  case  just  given,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  nothing  said  beyond  what  a 
cunning  old  woman  might  say,  nothing  to  indicate  any  superior  intelligence; 
generally  these  ventriloquists  are  distinguished  by  their  possessing  a  greater 
degree  of  shrewdness  and  acquaintance  with  what  is  going  on,  than  their 
neighbours,  and  thus  sometimes  draiY  conclusions,  which,  though  natural,  being 
beyond  the  perception  of  their  neighbours,  when  time  verifies  them,  they 
appear  prophetic,  and  seem  to  indicate  a  supernatural  power. 


46  MYTHOLOGY. 

witch  of  Endor  agrees  most  remarkably  with  the  witches  of 
New  Zealand. 

Besides  gods^  the  natives  believed  in  the  existence  of  other 
beings,  who  Uved  in  communities,  built  pas,  and  were  occupied 
with  similar  pursuits  to  those  of  men.  These  were  called 
Patu-faearehe.  Their  chief  residences  were  on  the  tops  of 
lofty  hills,  and  they  are  said  to  have  been  the  spiritual  occu- 
pants of  the  country  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Maori,  and 
to  retire  as  they  advance.  The  Wanganui  natives  state,  that 
when  they  first  came  to  reside  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
almost  all  the  chief  heights  were  occupied  by  the  Patu-pae- 
arehe,  who  gradually  abandoned  the  river,  and  that  even  until 
a  few  generations  ago,  they  had  their  favorite  haunts  there. 
These  may  be  accounts  of  an  aboriginal  race  mixed  with  fable ; 
there  are  several  things  to  warrant  the  idea  that  the  Maori 
were  not  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  land. 

The  Patu-paearehe  were  only  seen  early  in  the  moniing, 
and  are  represented  as  being  white,  and  clothed  in  white  gar- 
ments of  the  same  form  and  texture  as  their  own ;  in  fact, 
they  may  be  called  the  children  of  the  mist.  They  are  sup- 
posed to  be  of  large  size,  and  may  be  regarded  as  giants, 
although  in  some  respects  they  resemble  our  fairies.  They 
are  seldom  seen  alone,  but  generally  in  large  numbers ;  they 
are  loud  speakers,  and  delight  in  playing  on  the  putorino 
(flute);  they  are  said  to  nurse  their  children  in  their  arms, 
the  same  as  Europeans,  and  not  to  carry  them  in  the  Maori 
style,  on  the  back  or  hip.  Their  faces  are  papatea,  not 
tattooed,  and  in  this  respect  also,  they  resemble  Europeans. 
They  hold  long  councils,  and  sing  very  loud  ;  they  often  go 
and  sit  in  cultivations,  which  are  completely  filled  with  them, 
so  as  to  be  frequently  mistaken  for  a  war  party ;  but  they  never 
injure  the  ground ;  the  only  harm  they  appear  to  be  guilty 
of,  is  that  of  entering  the  whare  puni,  or  hot-houses  of  the 
natives,  and  smiting  the  inmates,  so  that  for  a  time  they 
appear  to  be  dead ;  it  is  only  the  Mata  Kite,  or  seers,  who 
are  able  to  discern  them.  These  quick-sighted  gentry  were 
not  aware  of  the  noxious  efiects  of  the  fumes  of  charcoal,  with 
which  their  houses  were  heated. 


MYTHOLOGY.  47 

The  belief  in  the  Patu-paearehe  is  very  general ;  many  have 
affirmed  to  me,  that  they  have  repeatedly  met  with  them. 
Albinos  are  said  to  be  their  of&pring,  and  they  are  accused  of 
frequently  surprising  women  in  the  bush.  The  following  is 
an  account  of  a  man  being  caught  by  a  Patu-paearehe  lady, 
which  is,  therefore,  a  very  interesting  circumstance : — 

Kurangai-tuku  was  a  Patu-paearehe,  a  giantess  in  stature  ; 
she  was  like  a  tree,  her  fingers  and  nails  were  extremely  long, 
with  these  she  was  accustomed  to  spear  her  game,  which  chiefly 
consisted  of  pigeons  and  parrots.  One  day,  when  she  was  out 
hunting,  she  came  to  a  large  totara  tree,  in  which  she  espied 
a  pigeon  roosting ;  she  sent  her  long  nails  completely  through 
the  trunk  of  the  tree.  A  chief,  named  Hatupatu,  was  also 
out  spearing  birds  at  the  same  time.  He  likewise  saw  the 
pigeon  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  tree,  but  did  not  perceive 
the  lady  until  her  nails  appeared  through  the  tree  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  she  saw  the  here  (barb)  of  his  spear,  which  had  like* 
wise  penetrated  to  her  side.  She  looked  around  with  asto- 
nishment, and  perceived  Hatupatu.  It  was  the  first  time  she 
had  ever  seen  a  man,  so  she  captured  him  alive,  and  carried 
him  to  her  house,  as  a  mokai,  or  pet.  This  lady  appears  to 
have  been  a  great  ornithologist,  and  her  house  was  a  regular 
aviary,  being  filled  with  every  kind  of  bird,  which  she  tended 
with  great  care ;  amongst  these  she  placed  her  new  capture, 
doubtless  considering  him  to  be  a  very  rare  specimen.  Here 
he  remained  some  time,  until  he  began  to  be  weary  and 
anxious  to  escape.  She,  however,  treated  him  with  great 
kindness,  ^nd  carefully  provided  for  his  support.  One  day 
she  asked  him  what  food  he  would  like  to  have  ;  he  replied^ 
some  birds.  She  then  enquired,  pae-hea?  What  ridge  or 
range  of  hills  was  she  to  go  to  for  them  ?  Was  she  to  go  to 
the  first  f  He  said,  no.  Was  she  to  go  to  the  second  range  ? 
He  replied,  still  further.  She  continued  asking  him,  until  she 
demanded  whether  she  was  to  go  to  the  sixth  range,  which 
was  very  far  oflF.  He  then  said,  yes,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  time  to  escape  whilst  she  was  going  so  far  for  the  birds. 
Kurangai-tuku  did  not  much  relish  so  long  a  walk,  still  she 
very  good-naturedly  set  off*,  and  rapidly  strode  from  pae  to 


48  MYTHOLOGY. 

pae,  or  from  one  range  to  another,  for  though  she  went  bare 
foot,  yet  she  seemed  to  possess  the  virtue  of  the  seven-leagued 
boots.  Hatupatu  in  the  meantime  stopped  up  all  the  holes 
and  crevices  of  the  house  with  muka  (flax),  that  none  of  the 
birds  might  escape  to  inform  their  mistress  of  his  departure  ; 
but  he  overlooked  one  very  little  hole.  When  he  crept  out  of 
the  house,  he  carefully  closed  the  door  after  him ;  the  riro- 
riro,  which  is  the  least  of  all  the  New  Zealand  birds,  perceived 
the  small  opening  which  had  been  left,  and  she  managed  to 
squeeze  her  little  body  through  it;  she  had  no  sooner  done  so, 
than  she  flew  straight  to  her  mistress,  exclaiming,  Kurangai 
tuku,  Kurangai  tuku — e— ka  riro  a  taua  hanga!  riro,  riro, 
riro !  Our  property  is  escaped,  it  is  gone,  gone,  gone !  Hence 
has  this  little  wren  derived  its  name,  riro-riro.  She  at  once 
returned,  and  Kumea  Warona  stretching  out  her  legs  and 
dragging  them  onward,  she  was  soon  at  home,  and  snufling 
up  the  vnnd,  quickly  found  the  direction  he  had  taken,  and 
immediately  set  ofi*  after  him  and  Kimiea  Warona  :  she  soon 
came  in  sight,  and  nearly  reached  him,  whilst  he  was  ap- 
proaching a  steep  cliff.  Now  Hatupatu  was  the  youngest  son 
of  his  mother,  and  to  make  up  for  such  a  great  disadvantage, 
his  kind  and  considerate  grandmother  had  bestowed  a  very 
powerful  charm  upon  him — he  had  not  a  minute  to  spare — he 
therefore  immediately  put  it  to  the  test,  and  pronounced  the 
spell,  matiti,  tnatata,  open  and  cleave  asunder.  The  powerful 
words  were  no  sooner  uttered,  than  the  rock  obeyed;  it  at 
once  opened  and  received  him  into  it,  and  then  closed  again. 
Kurangai-t\iku  immediately  afterwards  reached  the  spot,  and 
was  strangely  puzzled  to  find  out  what  had  become  of  Hatu- 
patu. She  began  scratching  about  with  her  long  nails  on  the 
rock,  exclaiming,  Ina  ano  koe,  e  Hana,  Where  have  you  got 
to,  O  Hana,  which  is  short  for  his  name.  Now,  if  you  ever 
go  from  Rotorua  to  Tarawera,  and  ask  your  guide,  he  will 
show  you  these  marks  of  her  scratches,  which  still  remain  on 
the  face  of  the  rock,  several  inches  deep. 

When  Hatupatu  thought  that  she  had  gone  away,  he  came 
out  again  at  some  distance  from  the  spot  he  entered.  But  she 
was  too  sharp-sighted  to  miss  him ;  again  was  she  in  full  chase, 


MvnioixxjY.  49 

and  Kumea  Warona  would  have  overtaken  him^  but  perceiving 
his  danger,  he  again  uttered  the  potent  words,  matiti,  matata; 
the  earthy  obedient  to  the  spell^  opened  at  once  and  received  him. 
Puzzled  at  his  strange  disappearance^  she  again  scratched  about 
and  criedy  Ina  ano  koe  e  Hana  ?  Are  you  here,  Hana  ?  After 
some  time,  he  once  more  ventured  from  his  hiding  place,  but 
she  soon  caught  sight  of  him,  and  pursued  :  he  cried  out  to  a 
tuft  of  toe  toe,  matiti  matata,  or,  as  another  account  states, 
tatenga  tatanga ;  it  inmiediately  lifted  up  itself,  and  he  went 
under,  thus  she  was  again  disappointed  in  her  search.  The 
last  time  he  entered  the  ground,  he  came  out  behind  Ohine 
motu,  near  a  ngawha,  or  boiling  spring.  The  ground  around 
these  is  generally  only  formed  of  a  very  thin  deposit  of  stone, 
which  arches  over  a  large  portion  of  the  gulf,  and  poor  Kuran- 
gai-tuku  stepping  upon  this,  it  was  too  weak  to  bear  her  great 
weight,  she  fell  in,  and  was  boiled.  The  name  of  that  hot 
spring  is  Waka-rewa-rewa. 

Besides  the  Patu-faearehe  are  the  Tua-rikiy*  who  appear 
closely  to  resemble  them,  and  the  Macro,  who  is  described  as 
being  a  wild  man,  living  on  inaccessible  mountains,  occasionally 
making  a  descent  and  carrying  off  any  he  can  lay  hold  of. 
He  is  said  to  be  covered  with  hair,  and  to  have  long  fingers 
and  nails,  eating  his  food  raw.f 

There  is  also  the  Taringcz-here,  a  being  with  a  face  like  a 
cat ;  and  likewise  another,  called  a  Taipo,  who  comes  in  the 
night,  sits  on  the  tops  of  houses,  and  converses  with  the 
inmates,  but  if  a  woman  presumes  to  open  her  mouth,  it 
immediately  departs.  One  more  of  these  imaginary  creatures 
remains  to  be  noticed,  which  is  called  a  Taniwha.  It  is  generally 
described  as  being  an  immense  fish,  sometimes  as  large  as  a 
whale,  frequently  it  assumes  the  form  of  a  lizard  or  crocodile, 
at  other  times  it  more  closely  resembles  the  eel.  It  resides  in 
deep  water,  generally  in  the  bends  of  rivers,  but  quite  as  fre- 
quently under  cli£&,  rocks,  and  mountains ;  wherever  a  quick- 

*  This  word  is  short  for  Atua-ririki  (little  gods). 

t  The  natives  say,  that  the  Tarania  range  is  now  his  only  habitation,  in  the 
northern  island,  where  he  is  still,  He  hapa  mariri  (a  numerous  tribe),  and 
that  he  is  identical  with  the  Nga-ti-mamoe,  who  live  on  the  lofty  mountains 
of  the  middle  island. 

E 


50  MYTHOrxXSY. 

sand  appears  at  the  base  of  a  cliff,  causing  land  slips,  there  is 
sure  to  be  a  Taniwha  below.* 

A  story  is  told  of  a  person  named  TamamutUi  who  was 
sleeping  on  the  shore  of  the  island  Haka-e-pari,  in  Tara- 
wera  lake.  When  Te  Ihi,  the  chief  of  the  Taupo  Taniwha, 
arose  out  of  the  lake,  and  carried  him  away,  he  took  him  under 
ground,  and  came  out  in  Taupo  lake,  where  he  was  kept 
by  the  Taniwha  for  several  days.  They  offered  him  some  of 
their  food,  which  he  refused  to  partake  of,  well  knowing 
that  if  he  had  touched  any  portion  of  it,  he  could  not  have 
returned;  at  last,  they  held  a  council,  whether, they  should 
kill  him  or  let  him  go  back  to  his  home ;  the  latter  opinion 
prevailed,  and  they  carried  him  to  the  very  spot  from  whence  he 
had  been  taken,  where  he  was  found  asleep  by  his  friends,  who 
were  amazed  to  find  that  he  had  become  perfectly  bald — there 
was  not  a  hair  left  on  any  part  of  his  body.  This  man  only 
died  lately,  and  one  of  his  wives  is  still  living. -j*  He  described 
the  Taniwha  as  being  like  great  Ngarara  or  lizards.  This  Ihi, 
the  grand  head  of  the  Taupo  Taniwha,  is  stated  traditionally  to 
have  been  a  man  who  one  day  when  paddling  with  another 
in  a  canoe,  on  the  Taupo  lake,  suddenly  leaped  into  the 
water,  and  diving  down  disappeared;  they  thought  he  was 
drowned ;  but  some  time  afterwards,  he  made  his  appearance 
at  Rotorua.  The  token  of  his  coming  is  a  boiling  up  of  the 
water,  producing  greatwaves.  His  mother,  Te-Ara-tuku-tuku, 
was  the  great  progenitor  of  all  the  Taniwhas.  At  her  death, 
four  pas  were  swallowed  up  at  Taupo.  The  names  of  two  of 
them  were  Kohuru  Kareao  and  Waka  Ohoka.  The  death  of 
Pipiri,  a  chief  priest  of  Motutere,  was  foretold  by  Ara-tuku- 
tuku,  because  he  went  to  fish  whilst  she  was  engaged  in 
prayer.  She  said  that  his  canoe  would  be  lost,  which  was 
the  case;  the  natives,  in  revenge,  killed  hor,  and  then  the 
four  pas  were  swallowed  up.  The  land  where  they  stood 
became  deep  water,  as  well  as  the  spot  where  she  was  buried. 

*  The  land  ilip  which  overwhchned  Te  Ilenheu  and  near  sixty  of  his 
tribe,  was  supposed  to  have  been  thus  caused. 

f  A  chief  stated  to  me  that  he  received  a  similar  account  from  the  lips  of 
Tamamutu  himself. 


MYTHOLOGY.  61 

Formerly,  there  was  a  formidable  monster  of  this  kind  at 
Orawaro,  near  Pakerau ;  he  was  of  an  enormous  length  and 
size ;  he  swallowed  two  children  at  a  meal,  with  their  green 
stone  ornaments.  On  another  occasion,  as  a  woman  was 
passing  near  his  den,  he  suddenly  crawled  out  and  seized  her, 
compelling  her  to  become  his  wife ;  and  lest  she  should  escape,  he 
kept  her  tied  with  a  rope ;  she  naturally  became  afraid  of  such  a 
husband,  and  hit  upon  the  following  expedient  to  effect  her 
escape : — complaining  of  great  thirst,  she  induced  him  to  let 
her  go  to  the  water,  but  the  wary  monster  still  kept  her  tied 
with  the  rope  ;  and  to  make  him  think  that  she  had  no  desire 
to  escape,  she  left  her  girdle  with  him :  he  was  thus  deceived. 
When  she  reached  the  water,  she  tied  the  rope  to  a  tree,  and 
ran  off  to  her  home.  When  the  Taniwha  thought  she  had 
stayed  long  enough  to  quench  her  thirst,  he  pulled  the  rope, 
and  was  amazed  at  the  resistance ;  thinking  she  was  very  strong 
and  obstinate,  he  went  out  of  his  cave  to  see  the  cause,  and 
then  found  out  the  trick  which  had  been  played  off  upon  him. 
The  woman  went  and  told  all  her  friends  and  relatives,  and 
further  suggested,  that  the  best  way  of  killing  the  monster, 
would  be  by  a  poa  poa,  or  live  bait.  Fifty  persons,  therefore, 
immediately  armed  themselves  with  sharp  ko  or  spades, 
determined  to  kill  him,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  When  they 
reached  his  cave,  they  all  went  behind  it,  and  there  laid  in 
ambush,  sending  only  one  of  their  number  in  front,  as  the  poa 
poa.  Taraka-piri-piri,  when  he  saw  the  man,  crawled  a  little 
way  from  his  abode ;  the  man  stepped  forward  a  few  paces, 
until  he  had  succeeded  in  drawing  him  completely  out  of  his 
den ;  the  fifty  men  then  rushed  all  at  once  upon  him,  and  soon 
dispatched  him,  thrusting  their  sharp  ko  into  his  body.  They 
then  cut  him  open,  and  found  all  the  green  stone  ornaments 
of  the  poor  children  in  his  stomach,  and  the  woman's  girdle  in 
the  cave. 

In  fact,  at  one  period  New  Zealand  appears  to  have  been 
as  dreadfully  plagued  with  Ngararas  and  Taniwhas,  as  Europe 
was  once  with  dragons ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  a  race  of  heroes 
who  patriotically  devoted  themselves,  like  St.  George  of  old,  to 
the  work  of  freeing  their  country  from  such  fearful  pests,  there 

e2 


52  MYTHOLOGY. 

is  no  saying  what  would  have  become  of  it;  it  certainly  would 
have  been  anything  but  a  desirable  field  for  colonization.  At 
Wanganui,  there  was  a  dreadful  monster^  who  lived  below 
the  cliff,  at  Taumahauti,  called  Tutai-poro-poro ;  he  was  at 
last  killed  by  Aukehu,  whose  canoe  with  all  his  party,  had 
been  swallowed  up  by  the  monster,  but  fortunately  Aukehu 
himself,  being  last,  made  his  escape  by  slipping  out  at  the 
end  of  the  canoe  as  it  went  down  his  throat ;  he  then  cut  into 
his  belly  with  his  mira  tuatini  or  knife,  and  let  in  the  water  which 
killed  him.  This  monster  originally  came  from  Rotoaira  to 
Retaruki  and  thence  down  the  Wanganui. 

At  Kapenga,  on  the  Kainga  roa  plains,  there  formerly  lived 
a  Taniwha,  named  Hotu-puku.  After  having  devoured  great 
numbers  of  people,  he  was  at  last  destroyed  by  a  party  of 
brave  men  from  Rotorua ;  they  mafle  strong  ropes,  and  formed 
a  large  circular  snare ;  stationing  a  party  at  each  end  of  the 
rope,  and  sending  another  to  entice  the  monster  out  of  his 
den,  as  soon  as  he  smelled  the  scent  of  men,  he  came  out 
and  pursued  them ;  they  retreated  through  the  snare,  he 
followed,  and  when  the  two  parties  who  laid  in  ambush  on 
either  side  of  the  road,  saw  that  his  head  and  shoulders 
had  entered,  they  immediately  pulled  the  ropes  tight:  the 
monster  struggled  very  hard,  they  therefore  drove  strong 
stakes  into  the  ground  to  which  they  made  fast  the  ropes,  when 
the  entire  party  united  and  attacked  the  Taniwha,  and  at 
last  despatched  him.  He  was  of  an  enormous  size,  being 
described  by  the  Maori  narrator  as  "  he  puke  puke  whenua,** 
a  mountain,  and  when  he  was  dead  he  was  as  large  as  a  great 
whale,  but  covered  with  scales,  and  with  large  spikes  on  his 
back.  When  they  opened  him,  they  found  the  remains  of  great 
numbers  of  persons,  with  weapons,  green  stone  ornaments,  &c. 
of  all  kinds,  so  that  his  stomach  resembled  te  whare  huata  a 
Maui — the  armoury  of  Maui. 

The  same  party,  justly  celebrated  by  this  exploit,  were 
immediately  sent  for  to  destroy  another  great  Taniwha,  who 
resided  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  fountain,  called  "  te  wharo 
uri :"  when  they  reached  the  banks  of  the  river,  they  repeated  all 
their  most  potent  incantations,  the  puni^  the  whakaruhi,  the 


MYTHOLOGY.  63 

i¥ero-wero-Taniwha,  the  wakapuru  to  tumangai,  the  whanga- 
whangai,  the  whakautu-utu^  and  many  others ;  they  also  made 
a  taiki,  a  large  cone-shaped  basket,  in  which  they  descend  to 
the  bottom  of  lakes  to  catch  cray  and  other  shell  fish,  and  one 
bold  chief  named  Pitaka,  with  his  comrade,  volunteered  to 
descend  into  the  abyss,  and  pass  a  rope  round  the  monster. 
Whilst  he  was  in  the  water,  the  party  above  kept  repeating  all 
their  spells,  to  weaken  the  Taniwha  and  strengthen  the  divers; 
the  monster,  immediately  he  saw  them,  elevated  the  spurs  on 
his  back,  with  delight  at  the  prospect  of  such  a  feast,  but 
Pitaka  and  his  friends,  nothing  daunted,  at  once  passed  a  rope 
round  him,  and  then  gave  a  signal  to  be  drawn  up.  The  party 
above  by  a  strong  pull,  brought  both  the  men  and  Taniwha 
up  together,  a  thing  which  would  have  been  impossible  for 
them  to  have  done  on  account  of  the  enormous  weight  of  the 
monster,  but  for  the  power  of  the  spells  used ;  they  then  killed 
and  eat  him.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  engaged  in  this 
exploit;  they  found  bodies,  mats,  &c.,  in  his  stomach,  the 
same  as  in  the  others.  His  name  was  Pekehaua,  when  his  ribs 
were  bare  of  flesh  they  looked  "  Ano  te  Riu  o  iane  mahuta" 
like  the  hollow  trunk  of  Tane  mahuta. 

Another  Taniwha,  named  Katoraref  was  also  killed  by  the 
same  party,  and  thus  that  district  became  freed  from  those 
fearful  reptiles.* 

Such  are  the  supernatural  beings  who  were  thought  by  the 
natives  to  have  an  existence ;  but  in  every  place  diere  were 
other  objects  which  were  viewed  with  reverence,  as  being  the 
peculiar  abode  of  certain  spirits :  rocks,  stones,  trees,  rivers, 
fountains,  even  large  eels  were  reverenced,  and  prayed  to,  and 
had  daily  offerings  made  them  :  the  sacred  trees  were  known 
by  their  being  daubed  over  with  red  ochre,  and  by  rags  tied 
round  them,  something  in  the  way  of  the  fetish  tree  of 
Africa,  each  visitor  leaving  a  rag  as  he  passed  by. 

A  solitary  Turkey  cock  by  some  means  or  other  found  his 
way  to  a  small  isle  in  one  of  the  lakes,  adjoining  Rotorua,  most 
probably  having  fled  from  the  mission  station  at  the  Ngae. 

•  See  Sir  G.  Grey's  Overland  Expedition  to  Taupo. 


54  HITHOLOGY. 

This  bird  managed  to  acquire  a  kind  of  sanctity  amongst  t)ie 
remaining  heathen  of  the  district,  who  never  paddled  past 
poor  gobbles  iale,  without  leaving  him  an  offering,  and  thus, 
though  doomed  to  a  life  of  celibacy,  he  still  grevr  fat  on  the 
offerings  of  his  admirers.  But  now  these  and  other  heathen 
fancies  are  rapidly  disappearing.  The  ancient  abodes  and 
haunts  of  Taniwhas,  Patu-paearehe,  Maero's,  &c.,  are  still 
pointed  out,  but  their  inhabitants  have  long  since  disappeared. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


This  singular  Institution,  which  pervades  the  entire  extent  of 
Polynesia,  may  perhaps  be  most  correctly  defined  as  A  reli- 
giout  obtervance,  established  for  political  purposes.  It  cod- 
sisted  in  making  any  person,  place,  or  thing  sacred  for  a  longer 
or  shorter  period;  if  it  were  a  person,  during  the  time  of  the 
Tapu,  he  could  not  be  touched  by  any  one,  or  even  put  his  own 
hand  to  his  head  himself;  but  he  was  either  fed  by  another 
who  was  appointed  for  the  purpose,  or  took  up  his  food  with  his 
mouth  from  a  small  stage,  with  his  hands  behind  him,  or  by 
a  fern  stalk,  and  thus  conveyed  it  to  his  mouth ;  in  drinking, 
the  water  was  poured  in  a.  very  expert  manner  from  a  calabash 
into  his  mouth,  or  on  bis  hands,  when  he  needed  it  for  washing, 
so  that  he  should  not  touch  the  vessel,  which  otherwise  could 
not  have  been  used  again  for  ordinary  purposes.*  Places  were 

*  A  limilar  cuiitom  previulod  in  Israel — see  2  Kings  iii.,  II. 


56  TAPU. 

tapu  for  certain  periods;  rivers  until  the  fishing  was  ended;  cul- 
tivations until  the  planting  or  reaping  was  completed;  districts 
until  either  the  hunting  of  the  rat  or  catching  of  birds  was 
done  ;  woods  until  the  fruit  of  the  kie-kie  was  gathered. 

The  Tapu  may  be  considered  as  having  been  of  two  kinds, 
private  and  public ;  the  one  affecting  individuals,  the  other 
communities. 

A  person  became  Tapu  by  touching  a  dead  body,  or,  by 
being  very  ill ;  in  this  respect  it  appears  to  bear  a  very  close 
resemblance  to  the  Mosaic  law  relating  to  uncleanness. 

The  garments  of  an  ariki,  or  high  chief,  were  tapu,  as  well 
as  everything  relating  to  him  ;  they  could  not  be  worn  by  any 
one  else,  lest  they  should  kill  him  An  old  chief  in  my 
company  threw  away  a  very  good  mat,  because  it  was  too 
heavy  to  carry  ;  he  cast  it  down  a  precipice,  when  I  inquired 
why  he  did  not  leave  it  suspended  on  a  tree,  that  any  future 
traveller  wanting  a  garment  might  take  it  ?  He  gravely  told  me 
that  it  was  the  fear  of  its  being  worn  by  another,  which  had 
caused  him  to  throw  it  where  he  did,  for  if  it  were  worn,  his 
tapu  would  kill  the  person.  In  the  same  way,  Taunui's  tinder 
box  killed  several  persons  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  find 
it,  and  light  their  pipes  from  it,  without  knowing  it  belonged 
to  so  sacred  an  owner ;  they  actually  died  from  fright.  If  the 
blood  of  a  high  chief  flows  (though  it  be  a  single  drop)  on  any- 
thing, it  renders  that  tapu.  A  party  of  natives  came  to  see  Te 
Heuheu,  the  great  chief  of  Taupo,  in  a  fine  large  new  canoe. 
Te  Heuheu  got  into  it  to  go  a  short  distance  ;  in  doing  so  he 
struck  a  splinter  into  his  foot,  the  blood  flowed  from  the  wound 
into  the  canoe,  which  at  once  tapued  it  to  him.  The  owner 
immediately  jumped  out,  and  dragged  it  on  shore,  opposite  the 
chief's  house,  and  there  left  it.  A  gentleman  entering  my 
house,  struck  his  head  against  a  beam,  which  made  the  blood 
flow ;  the  natives  present  said,  that  in  former  times  the  house 
would  have  belonged  to  that  individual.  To  draw  blood,  even 
from  a  scratch,  was  a  very  serious  matter,  and  often  was  at- 
tended with  fatal  consequences. 

A  chief's  house  was  tapu,  no  person  could  eat  therein,  or 
even  light  his  pipe  from  the  fire ;  and  until  a  certain  service 


TAPU.  57 

had  been  gone  through^  even  a  woman  could  not  enter ;  the 
chief  being  sacred,  had  his  food  to  himself,  generally  in  his 
verandah,  or  apart  from  the  rest.  No  chief  could  carry  food,  lest 
it  should  occasion  his  death,  by  destroying  his  tapu,  or  lest  a 
slave  should  eat  of  it,  and  so  cause  him  to  die.  A  chief  would 
not  pass  under  a  stage  or  wata  (a  food  store).  The  bead 
of  the  chief  was  the  most  sacred  part;  if  he  only  touched 
it  with  his  fingers,  he  was  obliged  immediately  to  apply 
them  to  his  nose,  and  snuff  up  the  sanctity  which  they  had 
acquired  by  the  touch,  and  thus  restore  it  to  the  part 
from  whence  it  was  taken.  For  the  same  reason  a  chief  could 
not  blow  the  fire  with  his  mouth,  for  the  breath  being  sacred, 
communicated  his  sanctity  with  the  fire,  and  a  brand  might  be 
taken  from  it  by  a  slave,  or  a  man  of  another  tribe,  or  the  fire 
might  be  used  for  other  purposes,  such  as  cooking,  and  so 
cause  his  death.  The  chief  power,  however,  of  this  institution 
was  principally  seen  in  its  efiects  on  the  multitude. 

In  former  times,  life  in  a  great  measure  depended  upon  the 
produce  of  their  cultivations,  therefore  it  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  their  kumara  and  taro,  should  be  planted  at 
the  proper  season,  and  that  every  other  occupation  should  be 
laid  aside  imtil  that  necessary  work  was  accomplished :  all, 
therefore,  who  were  thus  employed,  were  made  tapu ;  so  that 
they  could  not  leave  the  place,  or  undertake  any  other  work, 
until  that  was  finished  ;  so  also  in  fishing  and  hunting ;  and 
this  applied  not  only  to  those  thus  employed,  but  to  others : 
the  kumara  grounds  were  tapu;  no  strange  natives  could 
approach  them.  Even  the  people  of  the  place,  if  not  engaged 
in  the  work,  were  obliged  to  stand  at  a  distance  from  the 
ground  thus  rendered  sacred  by  solemn  karalda.  Doubtless 
this  was  a  wise  precaution  to  avoid  interruptions,  and  to  keep 
them  from  stealing.  No  one  but  the  priest  could  pass  in  front 
of  the  party  engaged  in  gathering  in  the  kumara  ;  those  who 
presumed  to  do  so,  would  be  either  killed  or  stripped  for  their 
temerity.  The  woods  in  which  they  hunted  the  rat  were  tapu, 
until  the  sport  was  over,  and  so  were  the  rivers ;  no  canoe  could 
pass  by  until  the  rahue  (generally  a  pole  with  an  old  garment 
tied  to  it)  was  taken  down.     In  the  early  days  of  the  Mission, 


58  TAPU. 

this  was  a  great  annoyance ;  the  members  of  the  Mission 
were  often  unable  to  communicate  with  each  other,  until 
the  dreaded  pole  was  removed ;  but  at  last  they  determined 
to  observe  the  tapu  no  longer ;  the  boat  was  manned,  and  they 
rowed  along  in  defiance  of  the  sacred  prohibition  They  had 
not  gone  far,  however,  before  they  were  pursued ;  the  boat  was 
taken  ashore,  and  all  the  articles  in  it  were  seized,  amongst 
which  were  some  bottles  of  medicine  and  pots  of  preserves ; 
these  were  immediately  eaten,  and  great  wrath  and  indignation 
expressed ;  but  by  preserving  a  firm  deportment,  the  natives 
were  conquered;  the  medicine  perhaps  had  its  share  in  obtaining 
the  victory,  as  they  found  they  could  not  meddle  with  the  Euro- 
pean with  impunity.  They  held  a  meeting,  and  it  was  then 
resolved,  that  for  the  future,  as  Europeans  were  a  foreign 
race,  and  subject  to  a  difierent  religion,  the  tapu  should  not 
apply  to  them ;  and  afterwards,  as  their  converts  increased, 
the  permission  was  enlarged  to  take  them  in  as  well;  and 
finally,  the  tapu  became  disregarded  by  all,  and  fell  into  disuse. 

Those  who  were  tapued  for  any  work,  could  not  mix  again 
in  society,  until  it  was  taken  ofi",  or  they  were  " waka  noa" 
that  is,  made  common,  or  deprived  of  the  sanctity  with  which 
they  had  been  invested.  Tliis  was  done  by  the  priest,  who 
repeated  a  long  karakia,  and  performed  certain  rites  over  them* 

If  any  one  wished  to  preserve  his  crop,  his  house,  his  gar- 
ments, or  anything  else,  he  made  it  tapu ;  a  tree  which  had 
been  selected  in  the  forest  for  a  canoe,  a  patch  of  flax  or  raupo 
in  a  swamp,  which  an  individual  might  wish  to  appropriate  to 
himself,  and  which  he  could  not  then  do  so,  he  rendered  tapu 
by  tying  a  band  round  the  former,  with  a  little  grass  in  it,  or 
by  sticking  up  a  pole  in  the  swamp  with  a  similar  bunch  at- 
tached. If  a  person  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  war,  and  a  feeling 
of  pity  arose  in  the  breast  of  one  of  his  captors,  though  it 
may  have  been  the  general  determination  to  put  him  to  death, 
the  desire  of  the  merciful  individual  would  prevail,  by  throw- 
ing his  garment  over  him ;  he  who  then  touched  the  prisoner 
with  a  hostile  intention  touched  also  his  preserver.  An  instance 
of  this  kind  occurred  during  the  late  war  at  Wanganui :  one 
of  the  inhabitants  was  captured  by  the  hostile  natives,  he  was 


TAl'U.  69 

on  the  point  of  being  put  to  death,  (as  a  return  in  kind  for  our 
own  narrow  and  barbarous  policy  to  a  native  prisoner  who  was 
hung  at  Porirua,)  when  an  old  chief  rushed  forward,  and  threw 
his  blanket  over  him ;  the  man  was  spared,  and  afterw  ards  was 
treated  with  great  kidness,  as  though  he  were  one  of  the  tribe. 

Fomerly  every  woman  was  noa,  or  common,  and  could  select 
as  many  companions  as  she  liked,  without  being  thought  guilty 
of  any  impropriety,  until  given  away  by  her  friends  to  some 
one  as  her  future  master ;  she  then  became  tapu  to  him,  and  was 
liable  to  be  put  to  death  if  found  unfaithful.* 

The  power  of  the  tapu,  however,  mainly  depended  on  the 
influence  of  the  individual  who  imposed  it.  If  it  were  put  on 
by  a  great  chief,  it  would  not  be  broken,  but  a  powerful  man 
often  broke  through  the  tapu  of  an  inferior.  A  chief  would 
frequently  lay  it  on  a  road  or  river,  so  that  no  one  could 
go  by  either,  unless  he  felt  himself  strong  enough  to  set  the 
other  at  defiance. 

The  duration  of  the  tapu  was  arbitrary,  and  depended  on 
the  will  of  the  person  who  imposed  it ;  also  the  extent  to 
which  it  applied.  Sometimes  it  was  limited  to  a  particular 
object,  at  other  times  it  embraced  many;  sometimes  it  was 
laid  on  one  spot,  at  other  times  on  an  entire  district.  Some 
persons  and  places  were  always  tapu,  as  an  ariki  or  tohunga  and 
their  houses,  so  much  so,  that  even  their  very  owners  could 
not  eat  in  them ;  therefore  all  their  meals  were  taken  in  the 
open  air.  The  males  could  not  eat  with  their  wives,  nor  their 
wives  with  the  male  children,  lest  their  tapu  or  sanctity  should 

*  A  woman  of  rank  would  frequently  be  allowed  to  live  with  a  slave  for  a 
time,  without  her  being  considered  as  belonging  to  him  longer  than  she  might 
feel  disposed  to  remain,  or  until  her  friends  might  dispose  of  her  to  one  of 
suitable  rank.  Te  Heuheu  allowed  his  young  daughter  to  live  with  a  com- 
mon Pakeka,  who  was  tramping  about  in  order  that  he  might  be  said  to  have 
an  European  belonging  to  him ;  but  the  chief  of  his  tribe  said  they  should 
soon  take  her  away,  and  bestow  her  in  marriage  on  a  young  man  of  rank. 
When  this  liason  was  formed  against  the  father's  wish,  and  there  was  offspring,  the 
grandfather  frequently  destroyed  it.  A  chief  of  Rotoaira,  only  a  few  years 
ago,  thus  destroyed  the  illegitimate  infant  of  his  daughter  by  cruelly  tying 
it  up  in  a  basket  to  one  of  the  rafters  of  his  house,  and  there  leaving  it  to 
perinh ;  the  mother,  ill  from  the  loss  of  her  child,  came  to  me  for  medicine, 
but  she  did  not  seem  to  grieve  for  her  infant's  death. 


60  TAPU. 

kill  them.  If  a  chief  took  a  fancy  for  anything  belonging  to 
another  who  was  inferior,  he  made  it  tapu  for  himself,  by 
calling  it  his  backbone :  and  thus  put,  as  it  were,  his  broad 
arrow  upon  it.  A  chief  anxious  to  obtain  a  fine  large  canoe 
belonging  to  an  inferior  who  had  offended  him,  merely  called 
it  by  his  own  name,  and  then  his  people  went  and  took  it. 

If  a  chief  wished  to  hinder  any  one  from  going  to  a  parti- 
cular  place,  or  by  a  particular  road,  he  made  it  tapu.  During 
the  disturbances  between  the  Government  and  the  natives, 
they  tapued  the  sea  coast,  and  would  not  permit  any  Europeans 
to  travel  that  way,  and  so  compelled  some  of  the  highest 
functionaries  to  retrace  their  steps. 

Some  years  ago,  a  German  missionary  located  himself  at 
Motu  Karamu,  a  pa  up  the  Mokan ;  the  greater  part  of  the 
natives  there,  with  their  head  chief,  Te  Kuri,  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  but  his  head  wife,  however, 
became  his  warm  patron.  When  the  priest  arrived  there  on  his 
way  down  the  river,  he  scolded  Te  Kuri  for  suffering  an  here- 
tical missionary  to  become  located  in  his  district,  and  applied 
many  opprobrious  epithets  to  the  intruder.  This  very  much 
incensed  the  chief's  lady ;  she  said  her  teacher  should  not  be 
abused,  and  therefore  next  morning,  when  his  reverence  was 
preparing  to  continue  his  journey,  she  made  the  river  tapu, 
and  to  his  annoyance,  there  was  not  a  canoe  to  be  found  which 
dare  break  it ;  after  storming  for  some  time  he  was  obliged  to 
return  by  the  way  he  came,  the  lady  saying  it  would  teach  him  to 
use  better  language  another  time,  and  not  insult  her  minister. 

To  render  a  place  tapu,  the  chief  tied  one  of  his  old  gar- 
ments to  a  pole,  and  stuck  it  up  on  the  spot  he  intended  to  be 
sacred.  This  he  either  called  by  his  own  name,  saying  it  was 
some  part  of  his  body,  as  te  Heuheu  made  the  mountain  Ton- 
gariro  sacred,  by  speaking  of  it  as  his  back-bone,  or  he  gave 
it  the  name  of  one  of  his  tupuna,  or  ancestors,  then  all 
descended  from  that  individual  were  bound  to  see  the  tapu 
maintained,  and  the  further  back  the  ancestors  went,  the  greater 
number  of  persons  were  interested  in  keeping  up  the  tapu,  as 
the  credit  and  influence  of  the  family  was  at  stake,  and  all 
were  bound  to  revenge  any  infringement  of  it. 


TAPU.  61 

Another  kind  of  tapu  was  that  which  was  acquired  hy  acci- 
dental circumstances,  thus, — An  iron  pot,  which  was  used  for 
cooking  purposes,  was  lent  to  a  Pakeka ;  he  very  innocently 
placed  it  under  the  eaves  of  his  house,  to  catch  water  in ;  the 
rain  coming  from  a  sacred  dwelling,  rendered  the  utensil  so  like- 
wise ;  it  was  afterwards  removed  by  a  person  to  cook  with, 
without  her  knowing  what  had  been  done ;  when  she  was  told 
it  was  sacred,  it  had  caught  water  from  the  roof,  she  exclaimed, 
We  shall  all  die  before  night ;  they  went,  however,  to  the 
tohunga,  who  made  it  noa  again  by  uttering  the  Tupeke  over  it.* 

Sickness  also  made  the  person  tapu ;  all  diseases  were  sup- 
posed to  be  occasioned  by  atuas  or  spirits,  ngarara  or  lizards, 
entering  into  the  body  of  the  afflicted ;  these,  therefore, 
rendered  the  person  sacred.  The  sick  were  removed  from 
their  own  houses,  and  had  sheds  built  for  them  in  the  bush, 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  pa,  where  they  lived  apart ; 
if  any  remained  in  their  houses  and  died  there,  they  became 
tapu,  were  painted  over  with  red  ochre,  and  could  not  again  be 
used,  which  often  put  a  tribe  to  great  inconvenience,  as  some 
houses  were  the  common  abode  of  perhaps  tliirty  or  forty 
different  people.f  The  wife  of  a  chief  was  very  ill,  I  therefore 
took  her  into  my  little  hospital,  where  she  laid  for  several 
days ;  at  last,  her  husband  came  and  carried  her  away,  saying 
he  was  afraid  of  her  dying  there,  lest  the  house  should  be 
made  tapu  and  thus  hinder  me  from  using  it  again. 

During  the  war,  Maketu,  a  principal  chief  of  the  hostile 
natives,  was  shot  in  a  house  belonging  to  a  settler,  which  he 
was  then  plundering;  from  that  time  it  became  tapu,  and 
no  heathen  would  enter  it  for  years. 

*  The  following  is  the  Tupeke  : 
a  ko  te  pnru,  ko  te  puru,  koa,        the  dancing,  the  dancing  of  the  logs, 
a  tohe  tohe  Id  aue  ue  the  striving  the  striving,  that  angcr 

may  be  done  away, 
kia  tu  tanga  tangu  te  riri  e  the  anger  cannot  reach, 

e  kore  te  riri  e  tae  mai  lest  the  stomach  be  pierced 

ki  kai  wara  kopu  stand  firm  like  the  comorant 

Kawautia  ko  ahaaha  te  riri  and  anger  departs. 

f  This,  perhaps,  may  be  the  excuse  of  those  heathen  natives,  who  expose 
and  abandon  their  sick ;  it  is  also  something  like  the  law  of  the  leper. 


Therestingplacesof  great  chiefs  on  a  journey  became  tapu; 
if  they  were  in  theforest,  the  spotswere  cleared,  and  surrounded 
with  a  fence  of  basket  work,  and  names  were  given  to  them.  This 
custom  particularly  applied  to  remarkablerocksor  trees,  to  which 
karakia  was  made,  and  a  little  bundle  of  rushes  was  thrown  as  an 
offering  to  the  spirit  who  was  supposed  to  reside  there,  and  the 
sacred  object  was  smeared  overwith  red  ochre.  A  similar  custom 
prevailed  when  corpses  were  carried  to  their  final  places  of  inter- 
ment. The  friends  of  the  dead  either  carved  an  image,  which 
they  frequently  clothed  with  their  best  garments,  or  tied  some  of 


^r 


the  clothes  of  the  dead  to  a  neighbouring  tree,  or  to  a  pole ;  or 
else  they  painted  some  adjacent  rock  or  stone,  with  red  ochre, 
to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  the  dead ;  and  whenever  they 
passed  by,  addressed  it  as  though  their  friend  were  alive  and 
present,  using  the  most  endearing  expressions  and  casting 
some  fresh  garments  on  the  figure,  as  a  token  of  their  love. 
These  were  a  kind  of  memorial  idols,  similar  to  the  painted 
windows  in  Popish  churches. 

An  inferior  kind  of  tapu  exists,  which  any  one  may  use  j  a 
person  who  finds  a  piece  of  drift  timber,  secures  it  for  himself 


TAVU.  63 

by  tying  something  round  it,  or  giving  it  a  chop  with  his  axe. 
In  a  similar  way  he  can  appropriate  to  his  own  use  whatever 
is  naturally  common  to  all.  A  person  may  thus  stop  up  a  road 
through  his  ground ,  and  often  leaves  his  property  in  exposed 
places,  with  merely  this  simple  tohu  or  sign,  to  show  it  is 
private,  and  generally  it  is  allowed  to  remain  untouched,  how- 
ever many  may  pass  that  way  ;  so  with  a  simple  bit  of  flax, 
the  door  of  a  man's  house,  containing  all  his  valuables,  is  left, 
or  his  food  store ;  they  are  thus  rendered  inviolable  and  no  one 
will  meddle  with  them.  The  owner  of  a  wood  abounding  with 
the  kie  kie,  a  much  prized  fruit,  is  accustomed  to  set  up  a  pole 
to  preserve  it  until  the  fruit  be  fully  ripe ;  when  it  is  thought 
to  be  sufficiently  so,  he  sends  a  young  man  to  see  if  the  report 
be  favorable ;  the  rahue  is  then  pulled  down ;  this  removes  the 
tapu,  and  the  entire  population  go  to  ''  takahi  "  or  trample  the 
wood.  All  have  liberty  to  gather  the  fruit,  but  it  is  customary 
to  present  some  of  the  finest  to  the  chief  owner. 

When  Te  Heuheu  and  nearly  sixty  of  his  tribe  were  over- 
whelmed by  a  landslip,  with  the  village  of  te  Rapa,  where 
they  resided,  the  spot  was  for  a  long  time  kept  strictly  tapui 
and  no  one  was  allowed  to  set  foot  on  it.  I  was  determined  to 
make  the  efibrt,  and  as  several  who  were  Christians  had  lost 
their  lives  in  the  general  destruction,  I  told  the  natives  I  should 
go  and  read  the  burial  service  over  them ;  viewing  me  as  a 
tohunga  (or  priest,)  they  did  not  dare  to  ofier  any  opposition. 
I  went  on  the  sacred  spot,  under  which  the  entire  population 
of  a  village  laid  entombed,  and  there  I  read  the  burial  service, 
the  neighbouring  natives  standing  on  the  verge  of  the  ruin, 
and  on  the  surrounding  heights. 

It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  tapu  arises  from  the  will 
of  the  chief;  that  by  it  he  laid  a  ban  upon  whatever  he 
felt  disposed.  It  was  a  great  power,  which  could  at  all 
times  be  exercised  for  his  own  advantage,  and  the  maintenance 
of  his  power  ;  frequently  making  some  trifling  circumstance, 
the  reason  of  putting  a  whole  community  to  great  inconveni- 
ence, rendering  a  road  to  the  pa,  perhaps  the  most  direct  and 
frequented,  or  a  grove,  or  a  fountain,  or  anything  else,  tapu, 
by  his  arbitrary  will.     Without  the  tapu,  he  was  only  "  ha 


64  TAW, 

taiigata  noa/^  or  common  man^  and  this  is  what  long  deterred 
many  high  chiefs  from  embracing  Christianity,  lest  they  should 
lose  this  main  support  of  their  power. 

Few  but  ariki,  or  great  tohungas,  claimed  the  power  of 
the  tapu ;  inferior  ones,  indeed,  occasionally  used  it,  but  the 
observance  of  it  was  chiefly  confined  to  his  own  retainers,  and 
was  often  violated  with  impunity,  or  by  giving  a  small  utu  or 
payment.  But  he  who  presumed  to  violate  the  tapu  of  an 
ariki,  did  it  at  the  risk  of  his  life  and  property. 

The  tapu  in  many  instances  was  beneficial,  considering  the 
state  of  society,  the  absence  of  law,  and  the  fierce  character 
of  the  people ;  it  formed  no  bad  substitute  for  a  dictatorial 
form  of  government,  and  made  the  nearest  approach  to  an 
organized  state  of  society,  or  rather  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
last  remaining  trace  of  a  more  civilized  polity,  possessed  by 
their  remote  ancestors.  In  it  we  discern  somewhat  of  the  ancient 
dignity  and  power  of  the  high  chief  or  ariki,  and  a  remnant 
of  the  sovereign  authority  they  once  possessed,  with  the 
remarkable  union  of  the  kingly  and  sacerdotal  character  in 
their  persons.  It  rendered  them  a  distinct  race ;  more  nearly 
allied  to  gods  than  men ;  their  persons,  garments,  houses  and 
everything  belonging  to  them,  being  so  sacred,  that  to  toucli 
or  meddle  with  them,  was  alone  sufiicient  to  occasion  death. 

Their  gods  being  no  more  than  deceased  chiefs,  they  were 
regarded  as  living  ones,  and  thus  were  not  to  be  killed  by  inferior 
men,  but  only  by  those  who  had  more  powerful  atuas  in  them. 
The  victorious  chief  who  had  slain  numbers,  and  had  swallowed 
their  eyes,  and  drank  their  blood,  was  supposed  to  have  added 
the  spirits  of  his  victims  to  his  own ;  and  thus  increased  the 
power  of  his  spirit.  To  keep  up  this  idea,  and  hinder  the 
lower  orders  from  trying  whether  it  were  possible  to  kill  such 
corporeal  and  living  gods,  was  the  grand  work  of  the  tapu ; 
and  it  did  succeed  in  doing  so :  during  by-gone  ages  it  has  had 
a  wide  spread  sway,  and  exercised  a  fearful  power  over 
benighted  races  of  men,  until  the  stone  cut  without  hands, 
smote  this  mighty  image  of  cruelty  on  its  feet,  caused  it  to  fall, 
and  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer's  thrashing  floor,  the  wind  of 
God's  word  has  swept  it  away ! 


CHAPTER  V. 


WHABE-KUBA. 


Although  the  natives  had  no  places  particularly  devoted  to 
reli}poua  purposes,  there  are  still  traditions  of  a  temple  having 
once  existed  amongst  tbem.  The  wahi-tapu  or  sacred  grove 
was  not  a  place  of  assembly  for  worship ;  it  was  only  entered 
by  the  priest,  and  merely  contained  the  tombs  of  chiefs,  of- 
ferings to  the  gods  and  sacrifices,  together  with  food  baskets 
and  fragments  unconsumed  by  sacred  persons,  rags,  and  the 
old  garments  of  chiefs;  their  hair,  when  it  had  been  cut,  and 
such  things;  they  were  rather  places  to  put  things  out  of  the 


66  AVKARE-KURA. 

way  illy  a  kind  of  sacred  store  of  odds  and  ends,  than  any  thing 
else.  But  the  Whare-kura  is  spoken  of  as  having  been  a  very 
large  edifice,  in  which  all  the  tribes  were  accustomed  to  meet 
together  for  worship,  and  the  rehearsal  of  their  several  pedi- 
grees, as  well  as  the  heroic  deeds  of  their  ancestors,  for  holding 
their  solemn  councils,  and  administering  justice.  The  word 
literally  means  a  red  house,  from  the  color  it  was  painted,  and 
it  is  said  to  have  been  in  existence  before  they  left  Hawaiki. 
Its  extreme  antiquity  is  seen  from  the  circumstance  of  all 
those  who  are  recorded  as  having  met  there,  being  now  re- 
garded as  their  most  ancient  gods.  The  temple  had  a  porch 
or  verandah  to  it,  such  as  they  still  make  to  their  houses; 
this  was  placed  at  the  gable  end  by  which  they  entered ;  and  at 
the  other  extremity  was  a  small  building  in  which  the  high 
priest  resided,  and  seventy  other  priests  had  their  houses  ranged 
around,  each  building  bearing  the  name  of  one  of  the  heavens. 

The  posts  which  supported  the  building  were  carved  to 
represent  their  chief  ancestors. 

The  different  tribes  which  met  there,  were  ranged  in  two 
grand  divisions,  one  party  being  on  one  side  of  the  building, 
and  the  other  on  the  other.  One  company  possessed  a  staff, 
called  Te  Toko-toko  o  Turoa,  whose  owner  was  Rangi-tawaki. 
The  other  side  also  had  a  staff,  named  Tongi-tongi,  which 
belonged  to  Mai-i-rangi.  Perhaps  these  individuals  were  the 
chiefs  who  marshalled  their  respective  companies. 

In  the  Whare-kura,  no  food  was  allowed  to  be  eaten,  and  the 
breach  of  this  law  was  punished  with  death.  From  this,  per- 
haps, arose  the  custom  of  cooking  in  a  separate  building,  or 
kauta,  and  their  still  eating  outside  their  houses.  In  fact,  the 
chief's  house,  in  some  respects,  seems  to  preserve  a  remem- 
brance of  the  Ware-kura,  and  to  be  a  kind  of  temple,  having 
its  household  god  and  altar,  represented  in  the  carved  post 
which  supports  the  building,  and  the  hearth  which  bums  before 
the  image  of  the  great  progenitor  of  the  family. 

The  tribes  which  assembled  in  this  ancient  building  are  still 
enumerated : 

1.  Kauika  and  his  chiefs,  Kauika-nui,  Kauika-roa,  Kauika- 
papa,  Kauika-wakaroa-korero. 


WHARE-KURA.  67 

2.  Te  Kahui-wata  and  his  chiefs^  Watanui,  Wata-roa, 
Wata-korero,  Wata-atua. 

3.  Te  Kahui  Kapua  and  his  chiefs^  I  Kapua-nui,  I  Kapua- 
roa,  I  Kapua  tuatahi^  I  Kapua-waka-roa-korero. 

4.  I  Rangi-tu-ana,  I  Rangi-tu-Tawaki,  I  Awhiro,  I  Roto- 
pua. 

Tlie  family  of  Whiro  consisted  of  Monga,  Wai-tu-rou-rou- 
atea,  Uri-hanga,  Marama-nui  o  Hotu,  Rakei-i-pingau ;  these 
chiefs  were  the  heads  of  the  tribe  of  Maru. 

The  persons  who  brought  the  flax,  and  made  the  sacred 
cord,  with  which  the  images  were  encircled,  were  Uru-manu, 
Taki-tald,  with  their  sisters  Rito-wara  and  Rito-maopo,  two 
great  priestesses:  from  them  it  is  said  Turia-te-ngairi,  the 
grand  quarrel  arose,  which  finally  separated  the  tribes. 

The  following  were  all  reptile  gods,  who  also  ranged  under 
Maru : — 

Tutangata-kino,  Tu-uatai,  Marongo-rongo,  Tu-te  korero- 
naki,  Pou-a-te-huri,  Huru-kakariki,  Huru-koekoea,  Te  Rimu- 
rapa,  Paouru,  Paroro,  The  High  Priest,  Witiki-kaeaea,  Tan- 
garoa-matipua,  Karukaru,  Tawaki,  Te  Mata,  Awipapa-te- 
mango-a-ururoa,  Te  Mata-o-te  rangi,  Maru,  Rehua,  Taunga- 
piki,  Riri-o-takaka. 

Uenuku  appears  to  have  been  a  leader  on  the  contrary  side 
of  the  house,  and  with  him  were  one  hundred  and  eighty 
chiefs.  The  Kahui  Potona  and  the  Kahui-torea  of  Kai  Ranga, 
Te  Kahui-po-poutiti,  Poutaha  Poukorero.  Te  Kahui-pepe, 
Pepe  mua,  Peperoto,  Pepe  te  mui-mui.  These  assembled 
to  hear  Uenuku ;  but  one  uncourteous  person  Potaringa  titia 
stopped  his  ears,  and  would  not  listen  to  him;  whilst  Potaunga 
a  whea,  better  behaved,  was  attentive  to  his  words.  Potapua- 
waka  was  also  a  great  orator  in  the  Whare-kura ;  but  half 
of  the  assembly,  instead  of  paying  any  attention  to  what  was 
said,  amused  themselves  with  singing  waiatas  or  songs  all  the 
time.* 

*  Extract  of  an  old  Song  : — 

Ki  mai  tc  tangato  nawai  ra-e, 
Mau  0  ki  atu 
Nate  Kahui  pou, 

f2 


68  WHARE-KURA. 

At  first  this  temple  was  a  grand  place  of  union  for  all  the 
tribes,  but  afterwards  it  became  the  source  of  discord.  The 
tribes  assembled  in  it  quarrelled.  Kauika  broke  the  staff  of 
Mai-i-rangi,  and  this  became  the  signal  of  anarchy  and  con- 
fusion ;  sorcery  and  witchcraft  were  then  practised  against 
each  other,  and  at  last  they  fought.  Waka-taupotiki  set  the 
building  on  fire,  and  a  multitude  perished  in  the  flames. 
From  that  period  (it  is  said)  there  has  been  no  union  amongst 
them — one  tribe  has  ever  since  been  opposed  to  another. 

Such  are  the  disjointed  parts  of  traditions  relative  to  this 
remarkable  temple.  They  are  interesting,  and  excite  our 
conjectures  as  to  their  origin,  since  they  must  have  been 
founded  on  something  which  once  existed ;  and  they  are  the 
more  singular  from  referring  to  a  building  erected  for  worship, 
when  they  have  never  since  had  anything  at  all  corresponding 
to  it  amongst  them.  The  Christian  natives  compare  it  to 
Babel ;  and  say  it  caused  their  dispersion,  and  the  confusion  of 
tongues,  as  well  as  the  subsequent  state  of  enmity  they  have 
lived  in  with  each  other ;  that  at  first  it  resembled  Solomon's 
temple,  where  all  the  tribes  met  together.  It  does  indeed 
seem  to  remind  us  of  the  separation  of  the  ten  from  the 
other  two,  in  the  reign  of  Rehoboam,  who,  like  Kauika,  broke 
the  stafiT  of  peace  and  unity,  by  his  folly :  and,  supposing  this 
people  to  be  descended  from  any  of  those  tribes,  this  is  just 
such  a  tradition  as  they  might  band  down  from  so  distant  a 
period ;  without  letters,  we  could  not  expect  them  to  preserve 
a  fuller  account.  When  Israel  forsook  the  temple,  which  no 
longer  continued  to  be  a  bond  of  union,  then  it  worshipped 
in  high  places  and  groves.  "  Had  these  staffi  any  reference 
to  the  tree  of  life,  and  the  tree  of  good  and  evil  ?  or  to  the 
staff  of  beauty  and  bands?" — see  Zech.  xi.,  7 — 10;  Jer. 
xlviii.,  17. 


Na  poutiti  e, 

Na  poutaha  e, 

Na  pou  Korero, 

Na  Kapu  taringa 

E  tiki  ki  roto  a  Whare  Kura-e,  &c. 


WHARE-KURA.  69 

The  following  is  a  tradition  which  closely  refers  to  the 
JVhare-kura  : — 

When  the  temple  was  finished,  they  sent  a  messenger  for 
Whiro  and  liis  sons,*  to  go  as  the  chief  speakers  for  Whare- 
kura ;  this  invitation  came  from  the  tribes  of  Kauika,  of  Wata, 
of  Kapua,  and  from  all  the  assembly.  When  the  messenger 
reached  Whiro,  he  said,  "We  have  come  for  you  to  be  a 
Tohunga  (speaker)  for  the  house."  Whiro  replied,  "I 
cannot  go  there,  but  I  will  send  my  sons,  Marama-nui-o-hotu 
and  Tai-nui-o-aiturourou-atea,  therefore,  return  all  of  you 
together."  The  two  sons  of  Whiro  went  and  reached  Whare- 
kura,  there  they  were  killed.  They  then  sent  other  messengers 
for  Whiro  and  his  remaining  son  Monoa,  to  induce  them  also 
to  go  as  tohungas  for  the  house,  but  in  reality  to  kill  them. 
When  they  arrived,  they  said  to  Whiro,  "  We  have  come  for 
you,  as  your  sons  are  not  sufficiently  learned  for  the  office." 
Whiro  replied,  "My  knowledge  is  no  greater  than  that  of 
Marama-nui-o-hotu  and  Tai-nui-waitu-rourou-atea  ;f  there- 
fore I  shall  remain ;  but  I  am  agreeable  that  Monoa  should 
go  in  my  place."  Whiro  said  to  his  son,  "  Seek  counsel  by  the 
Niu  ;  throw  your  stick,  the  ara  o  te  manu  i  te  ra^X  for  perhaps 
your  brothers  have  been  killed ;  "  he  therefore  consulted  the 
Niu — the  omen  was  unfavorable.  Monoa  said  to  Whiro,  his 
father,  "  My  stick  is  killed ;"  then  Whiro  replied,  "  Go  cau- 
tiously, and  when  you  reach  the  house,  do  not  enter  by  the 
door,  but  get  upon  the  roof  to  the  pihanga,^  and  there  look 
in."   Monoa  went  and  arrived  at  the  Whare-kura.  The  men  of 

*  Whiro  and  Tama  te  Kapua  were  the  gods  of  thieviDg.  They  went  on 
pou  toko  or  stilts  when  going  to  steal,  that  their  footsteps  might  not  be  seen, 
and  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  high  stages  (watas)  on  which  food  was  kept. 

f  Kei  au  hoki  heoti  na  no,"  this  reply  of  Whiro  has  passed  into  a  proverb, 
because  all  his  knowledge  had  gone  to  his  sons,  whom  he  had  instructed. 

X  In  consulting  the  Niu,  each  one  had  his  stick,  to  which  his  own  name 
was  given,  and  in  throwing  the  stick,  if  the  one  representing  the  consulterfell 
under  the  other,  it  was  a  sign  of  the  former's  death. 

§  Pihanga,  an  opening  made  in  the  roof  to  admit  light,  having  a  small 
roof  over  it  to  k^op  out  the  rain,  this  is  not  now  used.  It  is  probably  the 
origin  of  a  name  given  to  a  mountain  near  Rotoaira,  which  has  a  remarkable 
opening  in  its  side. 


70 


WHAKE-KURA. 


the  house  invited  hiin  to  enter  by  the  door^  but  Monoa  refused 
to  do  so ;  he  remembered  the  advice  which  his  father  Whiro 
had  given  him  ;  he  climbed  upon  the  roof  of  the  house  to  the 
pihanga,  and  there  looking  in^  he  saw  the  lungs  of  his  brothers, 
which  the  priest  was  then  waving  to  and  fro  in  sacrifice ;  Und 
this  was  the  signal  of  flight  to  Monoa.  When  the  men  of  the 
house  perceived  this,  they  went  and  pursued  after  him ;  he 
hastened  his  steps,  at  the  same  time  uttering  this  spell : — 


Hopu  kia,  hopukia, 
Hopu  ata,  hopuata, 
E  kore  Monoa  e  mou, 
I  te  ra  kumutia, 
Tuaka  puakina, 
Te  maiangi  nui  no  tu, 
Te  mahana  no  tu, 
Here  hum  huru  au. 
Here  take  take  au, 
Eero  au  iho, 
Here  au  ake, 
I  ranga  ano,  tauranga, 
Te  kuti  kuti,  taurauga, 
Te  awe  awe, 


Catch  him,  catch  him,  [you  can. 
Catch  the  light,  catch  the  light  if 
Monoa  will  not  be  caught 

in  the  day, 
He  has  arisen  and  got  away, 
He  is  as  light  as  the  wind, 
Warm  as  the  wind. 
I  fly  like  feathers, 
I  fly  strong, 
I  fly  down, 
I  fly  up  above, 
Upon  the  perch. 
Afar  off  upon  the  bat's  perch,  out 

of  reach, 


Tuku  atu  au  kia  mangi  a  manu,   Leave  me  to  escape  as  the  bird, 


Berehoumea, 
Tatu  mai  ata  tu 
Barou  ka  hihiko, 
Ki  te  hau  raro  tukua, 
Tuku  aiho  i  runga  nei 
Taka  te  ruhi, 
Taka  te  ngcnge, 
Huri  papa,  &c., 

Monoa  fled ; 


I  fly  as  the  oumca  (a  sea  bird), 
lie  close  to  the  earth. 
Embracing  its  surface, 
Let  the  wind  blow  above  me. 
Weary  the  legs  of  the  pursuers, 

let  them  be  tired, 
Let  the  strong  wind  blow  against 
them. 


he  ran  into  the  middle  of  a  flock  of  kauwau's 
(cormorants)  but  they  could  not  conceal  him ;  he  then  ran 
into  the  middle  of  a  flock  of  ducks ;  there  also  he  was  not  hid ; 
he  next  tried  to  conceal  himself  in  a  flock  of  kuakas,  (sand 
pipers,)  but  in  vain.  He  then  hid  himself  in  a  flock  of  toreas, 
but  to  no  purpose  ;  he  next  tried  a  flock  of  karoros,  but  there 
he  was  not  concealed  ;  at  last  he  ran  into  a  flock  of  tara  (a  small 
sea  bird  seen  in  great  flocks),  mid  there  he  was  completely 


RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP.  71 

covered.  In  vain  did  the  pursuers  search  for  him^  they  could 
not  see  him ;  they  returned^  and  Monoa  got  up  and  cried^ 
ke-ke-,  the  note  of  the  bird,  they  all  immediately  arose :  he  tlien 
cried  ka  iewa,  and  the  whole  flock  (tarai  whenua  kura)  flew 
away,  and  Monoa  escaped  i  te  ra  kumutia,  from  the  enemies 
who  wanted  that  day  to  enclose  him  as  in  a  bag. 

He  Taunaha  Id  Xauika. 

Ka  mama  Kauika  to  hunga,  ka  mama  Eauika  wakarongo  korero. 

Ka  mama  Kauika  wakatama  tama  i  roto  i  wharc  kura. 

The  Maori,  in  his  heathen  state,  never  undertook  any  work, 
whether  hunting,  fishing,  planting,  or  war,  without  first  utter- 
ing a  karakia ;  he  would  not  even  take  a  journey  without 
repeating  a  spell  to  secure  his  safety ;  still  he  could  not  be  said 
to  pray,  for,  properly  speaking,  they  had  no  such  a  thing 
as  prayer;  and,  therefore,  it  is  improper  to  say  they  were 
worshippers  of  either  gods  or  ancestors.  As  in  war,  they 
armed  themselves  with  the  most  formidable  weapons  they 
could  procure,  and  laid  their  plans  with  the  greatest  skill  of 
which  they  were  the  masters,  so  to  secure  the  fruition  of  their 
desires,  they  used  the  most  powerful  means  they  were  ac- 
quainted with,  to  compel  their  gods  to  be  obedient  to  their 
wishes,  whether  they  sought  for  victory  over  their  foes,  fruit- 
ful crops,  successful  fishings,  or  huntings ;  they  called  in  the  aid 
of  powerful  incantations.  When  they  planted  their  kumara, 
they  sought  to  compel  the  god  who  presided  over  them  to 
yield  a  good  increase ;  when  they  prepared  their  nets  and 
their  hooks,  they  must  force  the  ocean  god  to  let  his  fish  go 
to  their  nets.  As  the  kingdom  of  heaven  sufiers  violence, 
and  the  violent  take  it  by  storm,  so  the  heathen  Maori  sought, 
in  another  way,  by  spells  and  incantations,  to  compel  the  gods 
to  yield  to  their  wishes ;  they  added  sacrifices  and  ofierings  at 
the  same  time,  to  appease,  as  it  were,  the  anger  of  the  gods,  for 
being  thus  constrained  to  do  what  they  wished  them.  They 
appear  closely  to  resemble  Baalam,  who,  when  sent  for  to  curse 
Israel,  strove  to  do  so  by  incantation  and  sacrifice  combined, 
and  afterwards  confessed.  Surely  there  is  no  enchantment 
against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any  divination  against  Israel. 


72  RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP. 

Their  ancestors  were  addressed  as  powerful  familiar  frieiids ; 
they  gave  them  offerings,  and  if  it  can  be  said  that  any  prayers 
were  offered  up,  it  was  to  them  they  were  made. 

The  word  karakia^  which  we  use  for  prayer,  formerly  meant 
a  spell,  charm,  or  incantation ;  it  may  be  derived  from  Aa,  to 
bum,  showing  the  consuming  power  of  the  spell,  and  raki^  to 
dry  up,  denoting  its  effects.  I  remember,  many  years  ago, 
picking  up  in  France  a  little  book,  published  by  authority, 
entitled  "  Every  Man  his  own  Physician,"  which  contained 
spiritual  remedies,  such  as  Ave  Marias  and  Paternosters,  for 
most  of  the  diseases  to  which  the  body  is  subject.  This  is 
precisely  the  character  of  Maori  religion ;  they  have  spells 
suited  for  all  circumstances — to  conquer  enemies,  catch  fish, 
trap  rats,  and  snare  birds,  to  make  their  kumara  grow,  and 
even  to  bind  the  obstinate  will  of  woman  ;*  to  find  anything 
lost ;  to  discover  a  stray  dog ;  a  concealed  enemy ;  in  fact,  for 
all  their  wants.  These  karakias  are  extremely  numerous  ;  a 
few  may  be  given  as  examples. 

In  worshipping  or  uttering  their  karakias,  different  ways 
were  adopted ;  when  an  offering  was  made,  it  was  held  up 
by  the  tohunga  above  his  head,  whilst  he  uttered  his  karakia, 
and  waved  about.  This  was  called  "  He  Hirihiringa  atua."  In 
the  south,  where  a  small  kind  of  image  was  used,  about 
eighteen  inches  long,  resembling  a  peg,  with  a  carved  head, 
**  He  waka  pakoko  rakau."  The  priest  first  bandaged  a  fillet 
of  red  parrot  feathers  under  the  god's  chin,  which  was  called 
his  pahau,  or  beard  ;  this  bandage  was  made  of  a  certain  kind 
of  sennet,  which  was  tied  on  in  a  peculiar  way  ;  when  this  was 
done,  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  atua,  whose  spirit  entered 
it.  The  priest  then  either  held  it  in  the  hand,  and  vibrated  it  in 
the  air,  whilst  the  powerful  karakia  was  repeated,  or  he  tied  a 
piece  of  string  (formed  of  the  centre  of  a  flax  leaf)  round 
the  neck  of  the  image,  and  stuck  it  in  the  ground.    He  sat  at  a 

*  Atu  ahu,  or  charm,  to  induce  a  stubborn  woman  to  accept  the  person  who 
is  disliked  by  her  as  her  husband  : — Te  umu  ma  tc  kahu  c  hawe  ma  te  karoro 
o  kawo  tua  wairangi  Tuapo  hewa  manuwairitua  manawa  rawrikau,  mihi  mai 
tangi  mai  kt  au  ki  tenci  tangata  kino  tcnei  to  tane  ko  au.  This  charm  is  so 
powerful  as  to  compel  the  lady  to  come  from  any  distance. 


RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  73 

little  distance  from  it,  leaning  against  a  tuahu,  a  short  stone 
pillar,  stuck  in  the  ground  in  a  slanting  position,  and  holding 
the  string  in  the  hand,  he  gave  the  god  a  jerk,  to  arrest  his  at- 
tention, lest  he  should  be  otherwise  engaged,  like  Baal  of  old, 
either  hunting,  or  fishing,  or  sleeping,  and  therefore  must  be 
awaked :  having  thus  secured  the  attention  of  the  god,  he  repeats 
his  first  karakia,  in  a  quick  singing  tone ;  this  being  finished,  he 
took  a  short  piece  of  fern  stalk,  which  he  stuck  into  the  ground ; 
he  then  gave  the  god  another  pull,  uttered  another  karakia, 
and  stuck  another  bit  of  fern  stalk  into  the  ground ;  and  thus 
he  continued  until  he  had  repeated  all  his  karakias,  which  he 
counts  by  fern  stalks,  the  same  as  they  do  by  beads  in  Rome 
and  Thibet.  The  god  is  supposed  to  make  use  of  the  priest's 
tongue  in  giving  a  reply.  Image  worship  appears  to  have 
been  confined  to  one  part  of  the  island.*  The  atua  was  su|>- 
posed  only  to  enter  the  image  for  the  occasion.  The  natives 
declare  they  did  not  worship  the  image  itself,  but  only  the 
atua  it  represented,  and  that  the  image  was  merely  used  as  a 
way  of  approaching  him. 

The  natives  have  a  very  great  unwillingness  to  repeat  their 
karakias,  and  seldom  do  so  to  strangers ;  hence  the  little  accu- 
rate infonnation  to  be  obtained  from  the  works  of  casual 
travellers.  Very  little  of  their  account  of  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  natives  can  be  depended  upon,  unless  ac- 
quired through  the  medium  of  those  who  have  lived  for  years 
amongst  them.  The  heathen  natives  think  there  is  such 
power  in  these  spells,  that  they  cannot  be  repeated  without 
taking  effect;  and  the  Christianized  natives  are  afraid  that 
the  mere  repetition  would  give  the  evil  spirit  power  over 
them ;  and  certainly  it  is  not  desirable  that  this  knowledge  of 
heathen  rites  should  be  perpetuated  amongst  them.  The 
priest,  when  inspired,  was  really  thought  to  have  the  spirit  of 
the  god  in  him;  his  body  was  then  violently  agitated,  he 
writhed  about  as  though  in  great  pain,  rolled  about  his  eyes, 
his  arms  quivering,  and  seeming  insensible  to  all  external 
objects ;  then  every  word  spoken  was  attributed  to  the  god  ;* 
when  the  answers  were  given,  the  symptoms  gradually  sub- 
sided, and  the  priest  regained  his  usual  composure. 


74  NATIVE    BAPTISM. 

The  answer  was  frequently  given  in  such  incoherent  terms^ 
that  the  priest  only  could  interpret  their  meaning;  the  whistling 
of  the  wind — the  moving  of  the  trees — a  flash  of  lightning — 
a  peal  of  thunder — a  whirlwind — the  flying  of  a  bird — even 
the  buz  of  an  insect — or  anything  which  might  occur,  after 
the  uttering  of  the  karakia,  would  be  regarded  as  an  answer, 
and  favorable  or  otherwise  according  to  circumstances. 

Dreams  are  very  common  vehicles  of  communication ;  the 
spirit  being  supposed  then  to  visit  the  realms  of  Po,  and  hold 
communication  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  world.  They 
also  consulted  the  Niu  for  such  purposes  (see  Niu).*  The 
priest  was  the  usual  companion  of  the  chiefs,  and  he  generally 
managed  to  make  the  responses  of  the  god  to  suit  their  wishes, 
if  his  own  feelings  were  the  same ;  but  at  times,  when  the 
chief  undertook  any  expedition  which  was  not  agreeable  to  his 
followers,  it  generally  happened  that  the  god  also  was  adverse 
to  the  undertaking  as  well. 

The  natives  had  a  kind  of  baptism  (He  TohiJ  for  their 
children :  when  the  navel  string  came  ofi*,  then  the  child  was 
carried  to  the  priest.  The  ceremony  commenced  by  his  taking 
the  navel  string  (te  iho),  and  burying  it  in  a  sacred  place,  over 
which  a  young  sapling,  either  a  ngaio,  karaka,  or  kahikatea  was 
planted,  which,  as  it  grew,  was  he  tohu  oranga  (a  sign  of  life) 
for  the  child.  The  end  of  the  waka  pakoko  rakau  (idol),  was 
placed  in  the  child's  ear,  that  the  mana  (virtue  of  the  god) 
might  be  transferred  to  him,  and  the  following  karakia  was 
repeated : — 

Taria  kia  ahuatia  to  ingoa.  Wait  till  1  pronounce  your  name. 

Ko  wai  to  ingoa,  What  is  your  name  ? 

Ko  rongo  to  ingoa,  Listen  to  your  name, 

Tcnei  to  ingoa,  This  is  your  name, 

Wai  kui  mancane.  Wai  kui  mancanc. 

The  priest  repeated  a  long  list  of  names,  and  when  the  child 
sneezed,  that  which  was  then  being  uttered  was  the  one 
selected.  Tlie  names  repeated  were  those  of  ancestors.  The 
priest,  as  he  pronounced  the  name  for  the  child,  sprinkled 

♦  Pago  01. 


NATIVE   BAPTISM.  75 

it  with  a  small  branch  of  the  kokomiko  or  karamu.  This 
act  was  called  he  iohinga  ki  te  wai,  and  is  their  baptism.  The 
naming  of  the  child  was  called  te  tuatanga,  or  pana  pananga. 
After  this  was  done,  three  ovens  of  food  were  made;  the 
first,  which  was  a  very  small  one,  only  contained  one  little 
basket  of  food;  this  was  for  the  tino  ariki  (chief  priest). 
The  second  at  Taupo,  where  the  female  priests  were  the  most 
highly  esteemed,  had  a  similar  quantity  ;  this  was  for  one  of 
them.  The  third  oven  was  a  very  large  one,  contained  food 
sufficient  for  all  the  guests.  In  the  first  oven  a  korimako  was 
cooked ;  this  is  the  sweetest  singing  bird  of  New  Zealand  :  it 
was  eaten  that  the  child  might  have  a  sweet  voice,  and  become 
an  admired  orator. 

Taku  kokomako  wakahau  My  korimako  teacher  come 

Ko  nga  rake  manawa  From  the  dense  forest 

Ki  te  tatika  i  pimgarehu.  To  the  shore  of  pimgarehu. 

In  imitation  of  this  bird,  which  only  sings  in  the  morning, 
the  high  chiefs  give  their  commands,  and  scold  their  slaves, 
with  the  first  dawn  of  the  day. 

The  form  of  baptism  was  rather  different  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  island  to  that  of  the  south.  There,  when  the 
infant  was  eight  days  old,  the  parents  and  friends  assembled 
near  an  appointed  place,  by  the  side  of  a  running  stream.  The 
priest  procured  a  branch  of  the  karamu  (coprosma  lucidaj, 
which  was  stuck  upright  in  the  water ;  the  navel  string  of  the 
child  was  then  cut  off  with  a  piece  of  shell,  and  fastened  to 
the  branch ;  the  water  which  flowed  round  the  rawa  (branch) 
was  sprinkled  over  the  child,  when  it  received  its  name ;  some- 
times it  was  immersed.     The  following  karakia  was  used : — 

Tohia  tc  tama  nei ;  Sprinkle  this  boy ; 

Kia  riri,  kia  nguha ;  Let  him  flame  with  anger ; 

Ka  waka  taka  to  watu ;  The  hail  will  fall ; 

Ka  tohi  ki  tai  mo  tu ;  Dedicate  him  to  the  god  of  war ; 

Karo  tao,  karo  mahuta ;  Ward,  ward  off  the  spears,  let  them 

pass  off; 
Te  toa  rero,  te  toa  mahuta ;  Bo  nimble  to  jump  about ; 

Karo  patu,  karo  tao ;  Shield  off  the  blow,  shield  off  the 

spear; 


76 


NATIVE    BAITISM. 


Te  toa  rero  te  toa  mahuta ; 
Ku  toliia  ki  tai  mo  tu. 


Let  tho  bravo  man  jump  about ; 
Dedicate  bim  to  the  god  of  war. 


After  the  baptism,  follows  a  kind  of  exhortation  : — 

Ilahau  kai  mau  taugacngae ;  Clear  the  land  for  food,  and  be 

strong  to  work ; 
You  bo  angry  and  industrious ; 
You  be  courageous ; 
You  must  work ; 

You  must  work  before  the  dew  is 
off  the  ground. 


Ko  koe  kia  riri  tangaengae ; 
Ko  koe  kia  toa ; 
Ko  koe  kia  mahi ; 
Ko  koe  kia  tahounihi. 


The  karakias  relating  to  war  are  very  numerous,  and  singu- 
lar. It  is  remarkable,  with  the  exception  of  the  spell  to 
compel  a  woman  to  love  her  admirer,  there  are  none  relating 
to  marriage. 

The  following  karakia  was  used  at  the  baptism  of  female 
children : — 


Tohia  te  tama  nei ; 

He  aha,  he  hau  ora ; 

He  hau  rangatira ; 

Kci  runga  kci  te  rangi ; 

Ka  puha  to  rangi ; 

E  iri  iria  koo  ki  te  iri  iri ; 

Hahau  kai  mau,  tangaengae ; 

Haerc  ki  te  wahie  mau,  tangae- 
ngae; 
Watu  kakahu  mau,  tangaengae. 


Name  this  child ; 

What  is  it,  a  living  breath ; 

A  Chief*  8  breath ; 

From  tho  heaven  above ; 

The  sky  has  become  warm ; 

lie  you  baptized  with  the  baptism ; 

Seek  food  for  thyself  with  panting 

for  breath ; 
Seek  food  for  thyself  with  panting 

for  breath ; 
Weave  garments  for  thyself  with 
panting  for  breath. 

In  addition  to  the  rite  of  baptism,  was  another  resembling 
confirmation. 

The  infant  was  dedicated  to  Tu,  the  god  of  war ;  but  he 
did  not  presume  to  fight,  until  he  had  received  a  second  sprink- 
ling. On  this  occasion  the  priest  again  used  a  branch  of  the 
karamu.  Each  priest,  on  the  declaration  of  war,  assembled 
his  own  party,  and  went  to  a  sacred  water.  At  first,  all  sat 
down,  but,  after  a  time,  they  stood  up  naked  in  the  water, 
which  they  heaped  up  against  their  bodies,  and  threw  over 


WAR   CEREMONIES.  77 

their  heads.     After  they  had  been  sprinkled  by  the  priest, 

he  said, 

Tena  te  au,  te  au  ka  noho, —        This  is  the  spirit,  the  spirit  is 

present, — 
Te  au  o  tenei  tapu.  The  spirit  of  this  tapu. 

Ka  riri  te  tama ;  The  boy  will  be  angry ; 

Ka  nguha  te  tama ;  The  boy  will  flame ; 

Ka  tea  te  tama ;  The  boy  will  be  brave ; 

Ka  wai  korou  te  tama.  The  boy  will  possess  thouglit. 

Tohia  te  tama  nei.  Name  this  boy. 

Kia  riri,  Ida  nguha, —  That  he  may  be  angry,  that  he 

may  flame, — 
Kia  wakat^ika  te  watu.  To  make  the  hail  fall. 

Makani  Id  tai,  no  Tu.  Dedicate  him  to  fight  for  Tu. 

Karo  patu,  Id  tai  no  Tu.  Ward  off  the  blow,  that  he  may 

fight  for  Tu. 
Te  toa  rere,  to  toa  mahuta.  The  man  of  war  jumps,  and  wards 

off  the  blows. 
Here  the  ceremony  terminated,  and  the  assembly,   as  if 
inspired,  jumped  up  and  rushed  to  the  fight,  while  the  priest 
repeated  the  following  karakia,  standing  on  some  elevated  spot, 
from  which  he  could  command  a  view  of  the  battle :  - 

Tenei  hoki  te  tuputupu  wenua.     The  god  of  strength,  or,  let  him 

be  present. 
Ka  .  .  .  .  i  .  .  .  .  ta.  Let  not  your  breath  fail  you. 

After  the  battle  was  over,  the  priest  called  those  who  sur- 
vived, and  enquired  of  each  if  he  had  killed  any  one,  or  taken 
any  prisoners.  All  who  had  l)een  in  battle  before  delivered 
up  their  weapons  to  him,  who  then  deposited  them  in  the 
house  where  they  were  kept.  Those  who  had  fought  for  the 
first  time  were  called,  and  asked  if  they  had  killed  any  one. 
If  the  person  addressed  replied  in  the  afifirmative,  the  priest 
demanded  his  mere — stone  battle-axe — and  broke  it  in  pieces. 
This  was  the  invariable  custom  with  young  warriors,  when 
they  had  imbued  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  enemies.  The 
priest  having  afterwards  assembled  them  together,  used  the 
following  words,  which  were  called  the  Haha : — 

Ha — ^ha — ^ha — 
Tena  te  hau,  te  hau  ka  wangai,     Thi8isthewind,thewindisfeeding, 


78  WAR   CEREMONIES. 

Ho  hau  hinga —  The  wind  descends — 

Ho  hau  era,  oi !  The  wind  is  prosperous. 

Ko  tamangcmange  o  Tu.  The  many  sacred  things  of  Tu. 

He  hau  hinga.  The  wind  descends. 

He  hau  ora,  oi ;  The  wind  is  prosperous. 

Te  hau  ora  o  Tu.  The  living  wind  of  Tu. 

The  natives  regarded  the  wind  as  an  indication  of  the  pre- 
sence of  their  god,  if  not  the  god  himself. 

After  this  ceremony,  the  youths  were  considered  as  men, 
though  they  were  narrowly  watched,  for  some  time,  by  the 
priest,  and  they  were  liable  to  be  put  to  death  if  they  broke 
any  of  the  sacred  rules  of  the  tapu.  They  could  not  carry 
loads,  cut  their  own  hair,  or  plait  a  woman's.  If  one  of  them 
was  discovered  by  the  priest  doing  any  of  these  things,  he 
assumed  his  authority,  and  pronounced  the  sentence  of  death 
by  saying.  Go  away !  Go  away !  This  so  aflTected  the  person 
to  whom  it  was  addressed  that  it  was  quite  sufficient  to  kill  him. 

There  was  another  ceremony  performed  after  fighting, 
which  was  supposed  to  confer  a  benefit  on  all  who  had  been 
engaged  in  the  battle,  and  were  successful  in  killing  or  making 
slaves.  It  was  called  he  pureinga,  which  means  a  taking  ofi* 
of  that  sacredness  which  had  been  put  upon  them  before  the 
fight ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  taking  off  the  tapu. 

Tena  te  hau.  There  is  the  wind. 

Te  hau  ka  riri.  The  wind  rests. 

Te  hau  ka  wangai.  The  wind  is  feeding. 

Te  hau  kohimnga.  The  wind  which  gathers. 

E  hau  hinga  !  0  wind  subside ! 

E  hau  ora,  o  . . . .  i !  0  living  wind ! 

Eo  tamangamange  o  Tu.  0  sacred  things  of  Tu. 

Haia  te  hau,  haia.  Loose  the  tapu. 

Te  ati  tupua.  The  god  of  strength. 

E  tau  haia  te  ati  tawito.  Letthcancientgoddismissthotapu. 

£  . . .  e  . . .  e  . . .  te  tau  haia.         O...0...0...  the  tapu  is  taken 

away. 

The  natives  when  marching  or  sailing,  if  they  wished  to  be 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  war,  appealed  to  the  priest  and  invoked 


WAR   CEREMONIES.  79 

his  aid,  when  he  stretched  out  his  arm  at  full  length,  and  used 
the  following  prayer : — 

E  te  rangi  homai  he  riri !  0  heaven,  give  us  anger. 

E  te  atua,  homai  he  riri !  0  god,  give  ns  anger. 

The  following  prayer  was  uttered  when  they  were  alarmed 
by  any  sudden  inroad  of  the  enemy.  It  was  used  by  the  toa, 
or  warrior,  whilst  putting  on  his  belt  and  mere,  which  he  took 
from  his  resting  place,  where  they  formed  his  pillow,  as  it  was 
the  head  which  gave  them  sanctity  :. — 

Tukia  i  roto  te  wara  waka-  They  thought  of  killing  me  in  the 

arahia  :  house,  but  I  have  arisen. 

Ka  riri  te  mata  o  Tu.  The  face  of  Tu  is  angry. 

Ka  nguha  te  mata  o  Tu.  The  face  of  Tu  flames. 

E  Tu,  wahia  te  rangi.  0  Tu,  divide  the  heavens. 

Homai  taku  tu  kia  numia.  Give  me  my  strength  to  abide. 

Kia  rawea,  That  I  may  be  quick  to  take. 

He  maro  riri,  he  maro  nguha ;  Long  and  strong  anger  and  flaming; 

He  maro  kaitaua ;  Strong  to  devour  the  battle  ; 

He  maro  takarokaro  whenua.  Strong  for  the  play  of  war. 

When  they  went  to  war,  they  were  separated  from  their 
wives,  and  did  not  again  approach  them,  until  peace  was  pro- 
claimed. Hence,  during  a  period  of  long-continued  warfare, 
they  remarked  that  their  wives  were  widows. 

When  a  party  attacking  a  pa  had  forced  an  entrance,  they 
generally  killed  all  within  it.  At  the  time  of  the  slaughter, 
the  victors  pulled  off  a  lock  of  hair  from  each  victim,  and  also 
from  those  they  saved  as  slaves,  which  they  stuck  in  their 
girdles.  When  the  carnage  was  over,  they  assembled  in  ranks, 
generally  three  deep,  each  party  being  headed  by  its  own 
tohunga,  to  thank  their  gods,  and  also  to  propitiate  their  favor 
for  the  future.  When  all  the  necessary  arrangements  were 
made,  they  each  gave  the  tohunga  a  portion  of  the  hair  they 
had  collected,  which  he  bound  on  two  small  twigs  of  koromiko 
(veronica  salicifolia) ;  these  he  raised  above  his  head,  one  in 
each  hand,  the  people  doing  the  same,  except  that  they  used 
twigs  without  any  hair.  They  remained  in  this  posture  whilst 
the  priest  offered  a  prayer  for  the  future  welfare  of  the  tribe.  He 


80  WAK   CEREMONIES. 

then  cast  the  twigs  with  the  hair  bound  to  them  from  him,  as  did 
the  warriors  with  theirs,  and  all  joined  in  this  puha,  or  war  son^, 

Tupekc !  tupeke !  rua  t  upeke  ! 

llaro  tirohia  mai  taku  kotore : 

Ac  miro-miro,  ho  weta-weta,  ki  te  kai  a  te  ika : 

Ka  pepeke  ruaki  i  te  kai  a  te  ika,  ka  tupeke ! 

Then  standing  quite  naked,  they  clapped  their  hands  together, 
and  struck  them  upon  their  thighs,  in  order  to  take  off  the 
tapu  from  their  hands,  which  had  been  imbued  in  human 
blood.  When  they  arrived  near  their  own  pa,  they  marched 
slowly,  and  in  order,  towards  the  house  of  the  principal  to- 
hunga,  who  stood  in  his  wahi  tapu,  or  sacred  grove,  ready  to 
receive  them.  As  soon  as  they  were  about  one  hundred  yards 
from  him,  he  called  out,  "  I  haere  mai  i  hea  te  tere  o  Tu  ?  " 
Whence  comes  the  war  party  of  Tu  ? — Whereupon  he  was 
answered  by  the  tohunga  of  the  party,  "  I  haere  mai  i  te  kimi- 
hanga  te  tere  o  Tu."  The  war  party  of  Tu  comes  from  the 
search. —  "  I  haere  mai  i  hea  te  tere  o  Tu  ?  "  From  whence  conies 
the  war  party  of  Tu  ? — "  I  haere  mai  i  te  ranga-haunga  te  tere 
o  Tu."  The  war  party  of  Tu  comes  from  the  stinking  place. — 
"  I  haere  mai  i  hea  te  tere  o  Tu  ?  "  From  whence  comes  the  war 
party  of  Tu  ? — "  I  haere  mai  i  runga ;  i  haere  mai  i  raro ;  i  haere 
mai  i  te  huru  manu ;  i  haere  mai  i  te  takitaki ;  i  purongo  ki 
reira;  i  korero  rongo  ki  reira."  It  comes  from  the  south;  it 
comes  from  the  north  ;  it  comes  from  the  thicket  where  birds 
congregate ;  it  comes  from  the  fortifications ;  it  made  speeches 
there ;  it  heard  news  there. 

When  they  got  near  the  principal  tohunga,  the  warriors 
gave  the  remaining  locks  of  hair  to  their  own  priest,  who 
went  forward  and  presented  them  to  the  chief  one ;  he  offered 
them  to  the  god  of  war,  with  many  prayers.  They  then  per- 
formed the  tupeke,  or  war  dance,  and  clapped  their  hands  a 
second  time. 

The  slave  of  the  tohunga  belonging  to  the  war  party  then 
made  three  ovens,  in  which  he  cooked  a  portion  of  the  hearts 
of  the  principal  warriors  of  the  conquered  party.  When 
they  were  done,  the  chief  tohunga  took  a  portion,  over  which 
he  uttered  a  karakia,  and  then  threw  it  towards  his  god,  as  an 


WAR   CEREMONIES.  81 

ofTering*  Having  eaten  all  the  food  of  the  three  ovens,  he 
took  the  tapu  off  the  warriors,  and  they  were  permitted  to 
tangi,  or  cry,  with  their  relations.  The  women  came  out 
armed,  and  if  any  of  the  attacking  party  had  been  lost  in 
the  assault,  they  fell  upon  the  slaves,  and  killed  as  many  as 
they  could.*  Among  the  Taupo  tribes  it  was  not  lawful  for 
women  and  girls  to  eat  human  flesh,  though  this  restriction 
does  not  appear  to  have  extended  to  other  parts  of  the  island. 
This  karakia  was  used  to  propitiate  Maru,  for  success  in 
war.  It  was  accompanied  with  the  offering  of  a  pig,  or  other 
food,  which,  when  cooked,  was  placed  before  the  priest,  who 
repeated  the  following  words  whilst  tearing  it  in  pieces  ;  he 
afterwards  devoured  it : — 

Ko  pi;  ko  pi  te  ata,  ka  kai  ana, 

Eia  kai  koe  i  te  kai  ngaki  o  tou  wanaunga 

Tenei  tou  kai  i  kai  namu  ai, 

Kia  wangaia  kai  namu  ai. 

Before  going  to  war,  an  offering  was  generally  brought  to 
the  priest  who  placed  it  before  him,  and,  having  uttered  these 
words,  eat  it : — 

Ka  mamai  te  lunu  o  te  riariaki, 

0  te  hapahapai,  ka  mamai  te  umu  o  Tutawako, 

Ka  mamai  te  lunu  o  te  wakauwanga, 

Ka  mamai  te  umu  o  te  tirohanga. 

When  a  war  party  returned  from  a  fight,  if  they  had  been 
unsuccessful,  the  priest  met  them  with  a  large  branch  in  his 
hand,  as  an  expiatory  offering,  and  uttered  this  karakia  :  — 

Nau  mai!  I  haere  mai  koe  i  hea?  Welcome  !  Whence  do  you  come  ? 

Tenei  au,  I  haere  mai  au  i  te  Here  I  am,  I  come  from  the  ascent 

pikinga  a  rangi.  to  heaven. 

Nau  mai !  I  haere  mai  koe  i  hea  ?  Welcome !  Whence  do  you  come  ? 

Tenei  au,  i  haere  mai  i  te  kakenga  Here  I  am,  I  come  from  the  descent 

a  rangi.  of  heaven. 

Nau  mai !  I  haere  mai  koe  i  hea  ?  Welcome !  Whence  do  you  come  ? 

Tenei  au,  i  haere  mai  au  i  te  Here  I  am,  I  come  from  working 

ngakinga  i  te  mate  o  Wahieroa.  the  death  of  Wahieroa. 

*  When  Hongi  returned  from  a  war  expedition,  the  widow  of  one  of  his 
chiefs,  who  had  fallen  in  battle,  rushed  down  to  the  canoe  as  it  approached, 

G 


82  WAR   CERGMOHtES. 

Hilcitia  mai  tau  rakau  ki  ninga    Lift  your  weapon  above  upon  tb^ 

te  wata ;  altar ; 

Tau  rakan  kia  kai  mai  koutou ;      Tour  weapon,  that  yon  may  be 

pennitted  to  eat ; 
Tau  rakau  hikihiki  taiaroa.  Brandish  your  weapon  with  a  yell, 

Kikih iki  taiaroa,  tainotinotipiopio  Brandish  with  a  prolonged  ydl.* 

loudly  denumding  ufu,  or  reTenge,  for  her  husband's  death.  There  were  many 
esptJTei  OD  board.  She  jomped  into  the  canoe  with  a  hatchet  in  her  hand. 
The  poor  fellowa,  knowing  that  thmr  doom  waa  aealed,  without  a  mnrmur,  of 
their  own  accord  laid  their  heads  over  the  aidee  of  the  canoe,  and  met  their 
fikl«  from  her  hands;  Bizteen  thus  fell  Tictima  to  her  fiiry.  Ur.  Fackef,  on 
eje  witnew,  narrated  the  circomatanoe  to  me. 

o  the  RarawB,  1  am  indebted 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FISHINO   CEREMONIES. 

The  Religious  Ceremonies  coonected  with  fishing  were  very 

singular.     The  day  before  they  went  to  sea,  they  arranged  all 

their  hooks  around  some-  human  excrement,  and  used  a  karakia, 

which  will  not  bear  being  repeated ;  in  the  same  evening  they 

uttered  the  following  invocation : — 

E  t«  pu  nei,  e  to  woo  nei,  0  yc  roots  and  little  roots, 

E  Id  konei  hoki  koe,  Soon  will  your  trunk  depart  (being 

Ka  wano  te  tama  nei,  made  into  a  canoe), 

Ka  tangiwarane,  Soon  will  it  be  separated  from  its 

Ko  ia  ka  uru  a  tu,  branches, 

Eo  ia  ka  urumai  Soon  go  out  to  sea,  and  thence  re- 

Eo  ia  ka  uru  to  bai,  turn, 


84 


FISHING   CEREMONIES. 


Keu  wea  mai  tc  pu  mai, 

Te  weu  mai  te  keuwenga  mai, 

0  tc  matua  nui,  i  a  matua  nui  ra, 

Ko  ia  i  te  kcwenga  maif 

0  te  matua  nui  ra,  ko  ia  hai. 


Soon  will  it  be  finished ; 
Lift  up  the  trunk,   the  root  re- 
mains, 
The  trunk  leaves. 


In  each  pa,  different  individuals  were  appointed  for  the 
several  karakias,  one  for  the  kumera,  another  for  fishing,  and 
80  on  ;  when  they  reached  the  sea,  and  all  the  hooks  were  duly 
arranged,  (being  stuck  in  the  raupo,  with  which  the  joints  of 
the  side  plank  of  the  canoe  is  covered,)  the  tohunga  set  apart 
for  fishing  commenced  the  following  prayer,  standing  up  and 
stretching  out  his  arms : — 


Tahuri  mai,  tahuri  mai  e  Maru, 

Tahuri  mai  e  Henga, 

Tahuri  mai  e  Kahukura, 

He  tapatua  ko  i  uta, 

He  tapatua  ko  i  tai, 

He  tapatua  Tane, 

He  tapatua  Tangaroa, 

Ko  tapatua  a  tc  Hiri, 

Ko  tapatua  a  te  hara, 

Ko  tapatua  a  te  manuka, 

Ko  tapatua  a  tc  ngahoa, 

Ta  tapatua  Tane, 

Tangaroa  c  au  ko  i  uta, 

£  au  koi  tai  e  au  Tane, 

E  au  tangaroa, 
Ko  te  au  a  tc  hiri, 
Ko  te  au  a  te  hara, 
Ko  te  au  a  te  manuka, 
Tena  te  au  ka  wiwi> 
Tena  te  au  karawhe, 
Tena  te  au  ka  mou, 
Mou  ki  mua  waka, 
Mou  ki  roto  waka, 
Mou  ki  tu  ta  mua  o  Tane, 


Turn  to  me,  torn  to  me  0  Maru, 

Turn  to  me  0  Henga, 

Turn  to  me  0  Kahukura, 

Be  favorable  on  shore. 

Be  favorable  on  sea, 

Be  favorable  0  Tane, 

Be  favorable  0  Tangaroa, 

Be  favorable  to  unloose  the  heart. 

Be  favorable  to  do  away  with  sin. 

Be  favorable  to  take  it  from  the  mind 

Be  favorable  to  take  away  headache. 

Be  favorable  0  Tane  (the  tree,  i.e. 

canoe), 
Tangaroa   (sea),   let   thy  current 

flow  fair. 
Let  it  set  in  from  the  shore  for  the 

canoe, 
Let  it  set  in  seaward. 
The  current  is  unloosed. 
The  current  is  freed  from  sin. 
The  current  is  freed  from  the  mind. 
Behold  the  current  is  gained. 
Behold  the  current  is  held. 
Behold  the  current  is  firm. 
Gained  before  the  canoe, 
Gained  by  the  side  of  the  canoe, 
Gained  beyond  the  canoe. 


FISHING   CEREMONIES  85 

Mou  ki  tapu  kahanui  o  Tangaroa,  (Gained  in  the  midst  of  the  fish, 

Te  waka  tauiratia  ana  mai  e  koe.  The  canoe  is  rendered  sacred, 

Te  kaha  Tane,  Tangaroa  ko  taku,  The  strength  of  Tane  Tangaroa  is 

my  strength, 
Kaha,  ko  te  kaha  awai,  The  strengUi  of  whom  ? 

Ko  te  kaha  a  Tama  Titoko,  The  strength  of  Tama  Titoko. 

Tena  te  kaha  ka  wiwi,  Behold  this  is  the  strength  gained,  * 

Tena  te  kaha  ka  rawe,  Behold  this  is  the  strength  acquired, 

Tena  te  kaha  ka,  Behold  this  is  the  strength  held, 

Mou  ki  mua  waka.  Before  the  canoe  to  he  held, 

Mou  ki  roto  waka.  In  the  midst  it  is  held, 

Mou  ki  tu  ta  mua  o  Tane,  Before  0  Tane  it  is  held, 

Mou  ki  Tapu  kaha  nuio  Tangaroa,  In  the  midst  of  the  fish, 
Mou  ki  tenci  waka,  Gained  for  this  canoe, 

Mou  ki  tenei  Tauira,  Gained  for  this  spell, 

Ko  koe  te  waka  Tauiratia,  You  are  rendered  sacred, 

Ana  mai  e  koe  te  kaha.  You  are  made  strong, 

Tane  Tangaroa,  te  wanatu,  Tane  Tangaroa  render  prosperous 

Taku  kaha  nei  ki  ware  pouri  o  My  strength  in  the  dark  house  of 

Tangaroa  i  tai,  Tangaroa  (deep  sea), 

Te  homai.  From  the  sea  the  giving, 

Te  herea,  From  the  sea  the  binding, 

Te  notia.  From  the  sea  the  fastening, 

Te  nota.  From  the  sea  the  holding, 

Te  waka  maua  ki  tenei  kaha,  From  the  sea  the  retaining  by  this 

strength, 
Te  wanatu  taku  kaha  nei.  The  prospering  my  strength, 

Ki  ware  hua  kina  o  Tangaroa  i  tai.  The  opening  of  the  door  of  Tanga- 
roa's  ocean  house, 
Te  homai  te  herca  te  wakamaua.  The  giving,  the  binding,  the  hold- 
ing firm, 
Ki  tenei  kaha.  By  virtue  of  this  spell ; 

Tena  te  kaha  ka  wiwi.  This  is  the  strength  gained, 

Tena  te  kaha  ka  rawe.  This  is  the  strength  obtained, 

Tena  te  kaha  ka  mou,  This  is  the  strength  held, 

Mou  ki  mua  waka.  In  front  of  the  canoe, 

Mou  ki  roto  waka.  On  the  side  of  the  canoe, 

Ko  koe  te  waka  Tauiratia  ana  mai.  You  have  strengthened  by  the  spell, 
E  koe  te  kaha  Tane  Tangaroa,  With  the  strength  of  Tane  Tangaroa 
E  rarawe  taku  ure  ngaua.  The  biting  of  the  fish. 

The  first  fish  caught  was  returned  to  the  sea,  a  karakia  being 


86 


FISHING    CEREMONIES. 


previously  uttered  over  it,  to  cause  it  to  bring  abundance  of 
fish  to  their  hooks.  If  the  kahawai  only  was  taken,  the  women 
were  not  allowed  to  partake ;  if  a  tamuri  or  other  fish  were 
caught,  they  were  then  permitted  to  eat ;  but  the  first  fish 
taken  belonged  to  the  priest.  On  returning  home,  if  very 
successful,  three  ovens  were  tapued ; 

The  first  was  called  He  marae,  for  the  elders ; 

The  second      „        Te  Ikahoka,  for  the  priest  of  the  canoe ; 

The  third         „        Te  Tukunga,  for  all  the  party. 

The  priest  took  a  fish,  and  pulled  out  a  piha,  or  gill,  then 
taking  it  to  a  sacred  place,  and  holding  it  suspended  by  a 
string,  he  uttered  this  invocation  to  the  gods : — 

Te  ika  te  ika  i  "Waitotara,  The  fish  the  fish  of  Waitotara, 

Te  ika  te  ika  i  Whenua  Kura,       The  fish  the  fish  of  Whcnua  Kura, 

The  fish  the  fish  of  Patca, 
The  fish  the  fish  of  Tangahoe, 
The  fish  the  fish  of  Waengoiigoro, 
The  fish  the  fish  of  Kawia, 
The  fish  the  fish  of  Taranaki, 
The  drawing  to  us  the  fish, 
To  this  place,  to  this  land, 
The  fish  to  this  spot, 
The  fish  to  this  abode, 


Te  ika  te  ika  i  Patca, 
Te  ika  te  ika  i  Tangahoe, 
Te  ika  te  ika  i  "Waengongoro, 
To  ika  te  ika  i  Kawia, 
Te  ika  to  ika  i  Taranaki, 
Te  takina  mai  hoki  te  ika, 
Ki  tenei  rua  ki  tenei  one, 
Te  ika  ki  tenei  papa, 
Te  ika  ki  tenei  au  tapu. 


Te  ika  ki  te  au  tapu  nui  no  Tane,  The  fish  to  this  abode  of  Tano,* 
Ei  te  autapu  o  Tangaroa  te  ika,     To  the  abode  of  Tangaroa. 


Terctere  te  ika, 

He  ika  waka  mou  kaha  hai, 

Tena  te  ika  ka  moe, 

Ko  te  ika  o  te  rua, 

Ko  te  ika  o  te  one, 

Te  ika  o  te  hohono, 

Tena  te  ika  ka  taki  ki  mua, 

Ka  taki  ki  roto, 

Ka  taki  ki  te  turanga, 

Ka  taki  ki  te  kainga. 


The  fish  swim. 

The  first  fish  caught, 

Behold  the  fish  killtKl, 

The  fish  of  the  bank. 

The  fish  of  the  land. 

The  fish  of  the  deep. 

Behold  the  fish  is  drawn  before. 

Behold  the  fish  is  drawn  to  the  side, 

Is  drawn  to  the  landing. 

Is  drawn  to  the  village. 


Ka  taki  ki  te  au  tapu  nui  no  Tane,  Is  drawn  to  the  abode  of  Tane,* 
Ki  te  au  tapu  nui  o  Tangaroa.       To  the  abode  of  Tangaroa. 


*  Spoken  ironically,  being  Uie  land,  t.0.  the  oven. 


MANNER   OF    HUNTING   THE   RAT. 


87 


Tanmaha  Kirunga, 

Taumaha  Ki  raro, 

Eli  taku  matua  wahine, 

I  ti  ai  taku  kiorc. 

Ma  te  reke  taumaha  taumaha, 

E  taka  te  po, 

E  taka  ki  tuhua, 

£  taka  te  ao, 

E  taka  ki  Karewa, 

I  tutu  ai,  he  kiore, 


In  former  days,  the  hunting  of  the  rat  was  an  undertaking 
of  some  importance,  and  required  a  large  number  of  persons 
to  assist  in  it,  as  not  only  were  a  great  many  traps  required, 
but  also  roads  had  to  be  cut,  which  were  made  with  much  care, 
as  the  slightest  obstruction  was  sufficient  to  ruin  the  under- 
taking. When  the  hunting  party  had  assembled,  this  karakia 
was  sung : — 

Give  thanks  above, 
Give  thanks  below, 
To  my  mother  woman, 
My  rat  squeaks  (it  is  caught) 
For  thy  coming  thanks,  thanks, 
Night  suitable  falls. 
Inland  it  falls, 
Day  falls. 
At  Karewa  it  falls, 
What  is  that  standing  up  ?  it  is  a 
rat. 
The  hunting  party  then  cut  a  line  through  the  forest, 
carrying  it  up  hill  and  down,   however  great  the  declivity. 
This  was  often  many  miles  long.     There  were  generally  two 
roads  made,  one  parallel  to  the  other.    Along  them  were  many 
tawiti  or  traps  placed.     The  first  was  called  tamataney  the 
second  tamawahine.    If  a  rat  was  taken  in  the  first,  there  was 
certain  to  be  a  failure  along  the  whole  line ;  but  if  in  the 
second,  they  then  made  sure  of  having  most  of  the  traps 
filled.     These  were  baited  with  miro  and  other  berries;  the 
bait  was  called  poa.     When  the  first  rat  was  taken,  the  fol- 
lowing karakia  was  used : — 

Tap  tap  above. 

Tap  tap  upwards. 

The  tapping  of  the  hungry, 

The  tapping  of  the  strong  spirit. 

The  tapping  which  produces  food, 

Behold  the  wairua  toa  departs,  food 

will  come, 
Tap  tap  himgry. 
Thus  tapping, 


Tai  tai  ki  runga, 

Tai  tai  e  rangi, 

Ko  taitai  o  tu  pahua, 

Ko  taitai  o  te  wairua  toa,* 

Ko  taitai  unuhanga, 

Tena  ko  taka  o  te  wairua  toa, 

Marie  ki  tenei, 

Taitai  awa, 

Ko  tenei  taitai, 


The  spirit  of  hunger. 


88 


MANNER   OF    HUNTING   THE    RAT. 


Ko  tuitai  unuhauga, 

Te  poa  ki  rungay 

Te  poa  e  rangi, 

Te  poapoa  tnkia, 

Poaliaunga, 

Poa  kakara  tnkia  ki  tcnei, 

Foa  haunga  ki  tenci  poa, 


The  tap  tap  drawing  forth 
The  bait  above, 
The  bait  of  heaven. 
The  bait  giving  out  its  fragrance, 
The  bait  strong  smelling, 
The  bait  giving  out  its  fragrance. 
The  strong  smelling  bait,  this  is 
the  bait. 


They  commonly  caught  several  hundred  in  one  hunting,  and 
were  out  many  days.  When  all  the  rats  taken  were  collected 
together,  then  they  made  first  an  oven — hangi  afua — in  which 
they  put  a  rat,  as  an  offering  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  chase  to 
the  Atua.  This  was  lifted  up  on  a  stage,  and  then  the  priest 
used  the  following  karakia : — 


Te  kaha  ko  ia  imuhanga, 

Eo  ia  komokanga, 

Ko  ia  puakanga  ki  waho, 

He  popo,  popo  ngaruru, 

Te  huia  mai, 

Te  katoa  mai, 

Ko  taumaha  atu  ki  tau, 

Maha  a  rongo, 

Ka  ma  tama  kiri, 

Ka  ma  te  ware  rakau, 

Te  rangi  akinga, 

A  Ware  Bakau, 


The  smell  is  drawn  out. 

It  enters  the  nostrils, 

It  spreads  in  the  air,  [ranco. 

The  bait  is  perceived  by  its  fi^- 

The  assembling. 

The  numbering. 

The  thanksgiving, 

To  Kongo,  [trees. 

For  the  rats  living  in  the  barks  of 

Por  that  is  their  house, 

Rangi  cGdnga, 

The  son  of  Ware  Bakau. 


/  second  oven  was  made,  in  which  two  rats  were  cooked. 
This  was  sacred  to  the  priest.  A  third  oven  had  about  ten  in 
it ;  this  also  was  for  the  priest.  A  fourth  had  a  larger  number 
in  proportion  to  those  employed  in  the  hunt ;  for  whom  it  was 
sacred.  The  fifth  oven  had  a  stili  larger  number  in  it,  for  all 
in  common ;  but  no  one  touched  the  food  until  the  offering 
and  karakia  to  the  atua  had  been  made. 

The  general  size  of  the  rat  is  about  one-third  that  of  the 
Norway.  It  was  formerly  very  abundant ;  but  now,  from  one 
cause  or  other,  it  is  nearly  extinct.  The  two  grand  enemies 
to  it  arc  tlie  cat  and  imported  rat.  This  little  animal  is  said 
to  run  only  in  a  straight  line.     If  the  roads  made  for  it  were 


WirCHCRAFT.  89 

at  all  crooked,  it  turned  off  where  they  diverged,  and  ran  into 
the  forest. 

The  rat  was  formerly  prized  for  food,  and  is  said  to  be  very 
fat  and  delicate  eating ;  much  oil  was  extracted  from  it. 

Nearly  allied  to  these  supposed  charms  or  spells,  was  ma- 
kutUf  or  witchcraft. 

When  a  native  had  received,  or  fancied  he  had  received,  an 
injury  from  another,  he  sought  the  destruction  of  his  enemy 
by  witchcraft,  if  he  could  not  obtain  it  by  other  means.  If  he 
had  a  pig  stolen,  he  would  say,  Go  away,  my  pig,  my  pig,  with- 
out a  payment.  He  then  took  a  branch  of  a  tree,  and  went  to 
a  spring  of  water,  and  used  incantations  to  his  atua,  imtil  the 
person  who  had  injured  him  appeared  before  him.  When  this 
was  the  case,  the  bewitched  person  was  sure  to  die ;  but  then 
it  also  endangered  the  other^s  life  as  well.  The  person  who 
wished  to  bewitch  another,  sought  to  obtain  something  be- 
longing to  him — a  lock  of  hair,  a  portion  of  his  garment,  or 
even  some  of  his  food ;  this  being  possessed,  he  uttered  certain 
karakias  over  it,  and  then  buried  it ;  as  the  article  decayed, 
the  individual  also  was  supposed  to  waste  away.  This  was 
sure  to  be  the  case  if  the  victim  heard  of  it;  fear  quickly 
accomplishing  his  enemy's  wish.  The  person  who  bewitched 
another,  remained  three  days  without  eating ;  on  the  fourth  he 
eat,  and  his  victim  died. 

The  natives  were  very  fearful  of  their  food  being  bewitched. 
If  a  person  had  enmity  towards  those  he  eat  with,  and-^Fe- 
witched  their  food  by  a  secret  karakia,  they  die,  but  he  is 
found  out  by  his  living.  When  they  embraced  Christianity, 
they  were  very  particular  in  asking  a  blessing  on  it,  to  prevent 
the  evil  wishes  of  their  enemies  from  taking  effect.* 

Persons  might  makutu  themselves,  by  unconsciously  using 
any  article  belonging  to  a  sacred  character,  as  to  an  ariki 
or  great  tohunga.   When  Taunui,  a  principal  chief  of  Mokau, 

*  A  native  put  a  question  to  me  relative  to  food  on  which  a  blessing  had 
been  asked, — Is  it  right  to  give  even  a  bone  of  food  thus  sanctified  to  a  dog  ? 
I  replied,  that  we  only  asked  a  blessing  on  the  portion  we  consumed,  and  not 
on  what  we  left.    He  might  therefore  give  his  dog  the  fragments. 


90  WITCHCRAFT. 

lost  his  tinder-box  in  one  of  his  journies,  it  was  picked  up  by 
some  natives,  who  afterwards  went  by  the  same  way ;  they 
made  use  of  it  to  light  their  pipes.  On  reaching  Taunui's 
place,  he  asked  them  whether  they  had  seen  his  tinder-box ; 
they  were  so  dreadfully  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  using  anything 
belonging  to  so  sacred  a  character,  that  three  of  them  actually 
died,  and  more  would  have  done  so,  had  not  Taunui  immedi- 
ately removed  the  tapu  from  his  box. 

The  power  of  bewitching  was  not  confined  to  the  priests,  but 
was  supposed  to  be  possessed  by  every  one,  a  simple  wish  often 
being  suflicient.  Many  remarkable  instances  have  fallen  under 
the  notice  of  the  Missionaries,  where  those  bewitched  have  died, 
although  unaware  of  their  being  so.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
Mission,  those  who  opposed  the  Gospel,  tried  by  witchcraft  to 
destroy  the  preachers  of  it;  this  has  been  frequently  practised 
upon  several  of  our  members,  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  the 
individuals  who  attempted  it,  died  themselves  very  shortly  after, 
and  their  deaths  were  attributed  solely  to  their  having  failed  in 
injuring  the  parties  they  sought  to  destroy.  This  was  the 
case  twice  with  individuals  who  endeavoured  to  makutu  the 
Missionaries  of  Otaki  and  Wanganui.  At  the  latter  place, 
the  man  who  sought  his  death  was  a  head  chief,  and  he  was 
the  very  first  person  who  was  killed  in  the  war,  which  imme- 
diately afterwards  broke  out ;  two  others  attempted  the  same, 
and  they  also  shortly  after  died.  The  fact  that  they  have  been 
unable  to  injure  us  in  this  way,  has  caused  many  to  embrace 
the  Gospel,  as  they  have  ascribed  our  safety  to  the  greater 
power  of  our  God.*  I  once  heard  a  story  of  an  Irish  sailor, 
who  fancied  he  had  been  bewitched  by  a  native.  Poor  Paddy 
became  alarmed,  and  anxiously  demanded  what  he  should 
do  to  get  free  from  the  curse ;  he  was  recommended  to 
go  to  the  tohunga,  who  had  bewitched  him,  with  a  handsome 

*  The  relatives  of  Maketu,  a  chief  who  had  openly  cursed  me,  came  after 
his  death,  and  demanded  whether  I  had  not  also  cursed  him,  and  thus  been  the 
cause  of  his  being  killed,  thinking  my  curse  had  proved  the  most  powerful.  I 
replied,  Ministers  never  cursed  even  their  enemies,  as  Scripture  bid  us  bless 
and  curse  not.  They  went  away  with  the  conviction  that  he  had  caused  his 
own  death,  by  curnng  a  minister. 


NIU.  91 

present  in  his  hands ;  the  advice  was  adopted,  Paddy  was 
graciously  received,  and  gravely  ordered  to  open  his  mouth, 
when  the  other  immediately  spit  down  his  throat,  and  then 
told  him  he  might  rest  satisfied,  no  evil  would  befall  him,  for 
he  had  made  him  noa^  or  removed  the  spell. 

One  of  our  countrymen  living  at  Mokau,  a  swearing,  blas- 
pheming fellow,  was  thought  to  possess  this  power,  from  some 
individual  who  had  been  cursed  and  sworn  at  by  him, 
suddenly  dying ;  the  natives  afterwards  had  the  greatest  fear 
of  him,  and  even  Poutama,  the  head  chief,  who  was  in  general 
an  overbearing  man,  was  quite  afraid  of  this  fellow ;  he  had 
sold  some  pigs  to  him,  but  he  did  not  even  dare  to  ask  him  for 
the  payment,  and  he,  being  a  rogue,  never  gave  any. 

The  natives  had  a  way  of  divination  by  means  of  sticks ; 
this  was  called  Niu.  Each  chief  had  a  particular  name  for  his 
own  stick  ;  thus,  that  of  one  chief  was  called  Te  ata  mounu ; 
that  of  another  Te  manu  i  te  ra  ;  and  of  a  third  Tongo  hiti.  The 
person  consulting  the  Niu  went  out  in  the  morning  before  it 
was  light,  so  that  no  one  should  have  been  out  before  him, 
which  would  destroy  the  power  of  the  consultation,  and  taking 
his  stick,  a  short  thin  one  made  of  the  mahoe,  in  his  right  hand, 
and  another  representing  the  enemy  in  his  left,  he  went  and 
stuck  another  in  the  ground  ;  this  represented  the  tapu ;  and 
placing  the  two  sticks  together,  one  across  the  other,  he 
uttered  a  karakia,  and  then  threw  them  in  front  of  the  third 
stick,  and  it  was  according  to  their  position  that  the  consulter 
ascertained  whether  any  one  was  travelling  on  the  road, 
whether  they  are  friends  or  foes,  and  if  the  latter,  whether 
they  would  be  conquered  or  not.*    They  had,  in  fact,  no  end 

*  If  the  stick  representing  his  tribe  fell  Above  the  other,  it  was  a  favourable 
sign ;  if  below,  a  bad  one. 

With  them,  as  with  the  heathen  in  general,  the  most  trifling  things  are  in- 
vested with  the  greatest  importance ;  thus,  the  cutting  of  the  hair  (purei)  was 
done  with  much  ceremony,  and  the  repeating  of  many  spells ;  the  operator 
was  made  tapu,  for  this  service,  and  until  he  had  finished,  he  could  not  feed 
himself,  or  engage  in  any  other  employment.  When  the  hair  was  cut,  a 
portion  was  cast  into  the  fire,  and  the  following  karakia  was  uttered : — 
Oe  he  pikinga  he  kakenga,  Piki  mai  te  rangi  tua  tahi, 

Ka  e  kei  tua,  kei  waho  kei  tuatua,  Piki  mai  te  rangi  tua  rua, 

Kei  te  karawa  kei  te  ranginui  e  tu  nei,    Piki  mai  te  rang^  tua  torn, 


92  Niu. 

of  signs  and  tokens,  good  and  bad ;  the  throbbing  of  the  pulse 
in  the  right  arm,  was  a  good  sign  in  war ;  that  of  the  left,  a 
bad  one.  The  twitching  of  the  arm,  the  starting  in  sleep;  in 
fact,  the  minute  distinctions  made  in  all  their  religious  obser- 
vances, are  perfectly  astonishing,  and  required  the  skilful 
tohunga  to  interpret.* 

Different  tribes  had  different  ways  of  consulting  the  niu, 
but  the  practice  was  general  throughout  the  land.  A  spirit 
called  Korohaha  Tu,  was  supposed  to  reside  in  the  sticks. 

The  following  was  a  karakia  used  when  the  divination  was 
made  with  the  hands,  and  therefore  called.  He  niu  ringaringa 
(a  niu  of  the  hands) : — 

Kia  mana  tenei  niu ;  Let  this  niu  be  strong ; 

Tenei  te  niu  ka  rare ;  This  is  the  niu,  there  it  goes ;  a 

Ho  niu  na  Paki  niu  of  Paki. 

Ko  te  he  kia  puta.  The  bad  let  it  bo  seen. 

Whilst  this  was  being  said,  the  person  kept  clapping  his  hands 
together ;  if  the  fingers  locked  each  within  the  other,  it  was  a 
good  sign,  for  a  party  wishing  to  pass  along  a  road,  in  time  of 
war,  they  would  succeed,  and  arrive  safe ;  if,  however,  the 
finger  ends  rested  one  on  the  other,  it  was  a  sign  they  would 
be  stopped ;  if  two  of  the  fingers  entered  and  two  were  arrested, 
it  was  a  sign  they  would  only  meet  with  a  travelling  party. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  although  the  natives  have  innumerable 
karakias  and  rites,  yet  they  had  no  stated  festivals,  or  any  days 
more  sacred  than  others,  nor  had  they  any  religious  system 
common  to  all ;  their  religion,  indeed,  may  be  regarded  as 

Piki  mai  te  rangi  tua  wa,  Piki  mai  te  rangi  tua  ono, 

Piki  mai  te  rangi  tua  rima,  He  rangi  he  hei  te  urn.  —  uru. 

This  was  a  karakia  to  avert  the  bad  effects  of  thunder  and  lightning,  which 
were  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  this  potent  operation. 

The  word  Nui  is  also  used  in  Tonga  for  a  divination  by  means  of  a  cocoa 
nut,  which  is  spun  round  on  the  ground,  and  according  to  its  motions  a  favor- 
able or  unfavorable  omen  is  drawn. 

*  Whilst  encamped  in  the  forest,  an  old  chief  who  was  with  us,  threw  out 
his  arm  violenUy  in  his  sleep ;  the  act  awoke  him,  and  immediately  caused  a 
general  discussion,  as  to  what  it  portended.  One  expressed  one  opinion,  und 
another  another ;  at  last,  the  chief  said,  it  means  that  we  shall  meet  strangers 
to-day.  We  resumed  our  journey,  and  accordingly  did  meet  three  natives ; 
all  were  then  satisfied  with  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  omen. 


Niu.  93 

being  of  an  individual  rather  than  of  a  national  character ; 
each  one  being  independent  of  his  neighbour,  and  at  liberty  to 
follow  his  own  ideas ;  although  there  were  persons  called  to- 
hungas,  or  priests,  who  officiated  on  certain  occasions,  such  as 
before  their  entering  upon  a  war  expedition,  the  planting  or 
reaping  of  the  kumara,  fishing  or  hunting  ;  stili  this  did  not 
interfere  with  each  one's  individual  right  to  use  whatever 
karakias  he  might  think  fit,  and  whenever  he  pleased.  In  this 
respect  they  differ  from  most  nations,  which  in  general  are  so 
tenacious  of  any  interference  with  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
tl^e  constituted  priesthood. 

This  freedom  in  spiritual  matters  naturally  caused  a  great 
diversity  of  rites  and  customs ;  often  what  was  practised  in  one 
place,  would  be  quite  different  from  that  in  another. 

This  diversity  chiefly  depended  upon  some  individual, 
whether  a  tohunga  or  not,  who  was  supposed  to  be  more 
gifted  in  one  department  than  another;  for  instance,  the 
chief  of  Waitotara  was  considered  to  be  profoundly  wise  in 
the  stars,  knowing  all  their  names  and  powers.  His  people 
therefore  became  the  chief  worshippers  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  there  the  only  resemblance  to  a  stated  period  of 
worship  existed,  for  each  star  had  its  karakia  when  it  was  in 
the  ascendant ;  so  also  was  it  with  the  moon,  which  the  chief 
of  another  place  was  supposed  to  be  the  best  acquainted  with ; 
he  had  a  karakia,  when  the  new  moon  appeared.  In  one 
place,  the  kurihanga  tau,  or  new  year,  was  celebrated  with  a 
karakia.  In  another,  the  most  sacred  day  of  the  year  was  that 
appointed  for  hair  cutting ;  the  people  assembled  from  all  the 
neighbouring  parts,  often  more  than  a  thousand  in  number ; 
the  operation  being  commenced  with  karakia,  the  operator  and 
his  obsidian  (substitute  for  scissors)  being  thus  rendered  pecu- 
liarly sacred. 

The  piece  of  obsidian  too,  with  which  the  hair  was  cut,  had 
this  karakia  uttered  to  render  it  efficacious : — 

Mori  mori  ta  kiki,  The  hair  is  gone, 

Mori  mori  ta  kaka,  The  hair  is  shorn, 

I  te  wanihanga  a  te  mata,  By  the  cutting  of  the  stone 

Eo  i  to  ko  ata  The  head  is  as  bare 

I  taku  ipu  waka  iroiro.  As  the  calabash. 


94  CURSING. 

In  some  places,  the  hair  is  cut  only  in  the  morning;  in 
Taupo,  it  is  done  in  the  evening.  The  hair  in  other  parts 
was  laid  upon  the  tuahu,  or  altar,  whilst  the  karakia  was 
uttered,  and  left  there,  the  tuahu  being  in  the  wahi  tapu,  or 
sacred  grove. 

Another  way  of  obtaining  revenge,  was  by  cursing.  To  call 
any  object  by  the  name  of  a  chief,  and  then  strike  or  insult 
it,  was  regarded  as  a  curse ;  this  was  tapatapa,  or  tukutuku. 

To  curse,  or  kanga,  was  to  apply  any  word  to  another  which 
had  reference  to  food ;  to  say,  you  be  eaten,  or  be  cooked, 
would  be  considered  in  that  light.  The  following  is  an  ex- 
ample : — To  bid  you  go  and  cook  your  father  would  be  a  great 
curse,  but  to  tell  a  person  to  go  and  cook  his  great  grandfather 
would  be  a  far  greater  one,  because  it  included  every  indivi- 
dual who  has  sprung  from  him.  This  would  have  been  quite 
sufficient  in  former  days  to  cause  a  war ;  it  could  not  have 
been  overlooked. 

Tenei  tou  roro,  ko  te  kowhatu  e  tu  ki  te  ahi  kai,  kia  reka  iho 
ai  taku  kainga  iho  — e.  If  this  were  your  brain,  this  stone 
which  stands  by  the  food  fire,  i.e.  the  kitchen  hearth  stone, 
how  very  sweet  would  be  my  eating  of  it. 

jfpiti  is  also  a  term  for  cursing ;  any  one  who  used  a  word, 
however  unintentionally,  which  is  regarded  as  a  curse,  wo\ild 
be  exposed  to  extreme  danger ;  a  young  man,  who  saw  a 
chief  running  in  a  great  heat,  and  the  perspiration  flowing 
down  his  cheeks,  remarked,  that  the  vapour  rose  from  his  head 
like  the  steam  of  an  oven  ;  this  expression  was  regarded  as  a 
great  curse,  and  caused  a  war,  which  did  not  terminate  until 
the  entire  tribe  of  the  person  who  uttered  it  was  destroyed.* 

*  He  kai  mau  te  tangata  Food  for  thee,  O  fish,  is  the  man  whom 

Biakutu  mai,  thus  I  curse,  who  by  his  witchcraft  and 

Bialiara  Tnn^i^  wishing  me  ill  luck,  is  the  real  cause 

Kei  reira  to  hara  that  none  of  you  will  take  my  bait. 

Harahara  aitua,  What  have  you  done  that  they  should 

Harahara  atai  thus  bewitch,  and  with  their  ill  omens 

Ipakia  ai  koe,  and  curses,  reach  you ;  you  have  been 

Irahau  ai  koe,  by  witchcraft  touched,  by  curses  smit- 

Niniho  koi,  tara  koe  ten.    Those  teeth  of  yours,  so  keen 

Kei  te  tai  timu,  and  sharply  pointed.  At  the  ebb  tide, 

Kei  te  tai  pari,  you  are  best  caught  or  at  the  flood. 


KURA — RED.  95 

The  Bishop  of  New  Zealand  once  nearly  got  himself  into  a 
serious  scrape,  by  saying  to  a  chief,  who  asked  him  for  tobacco, 
Oh !  you  want  me  to  stop  up  your  ears  with  tobacco ;  this  was 
viewed  as  a  curse,  and  caused  a  temporary  misunderstanding. 

Sometimes  there  are  words  in  common  use  in  one  tribe, 
which  are  regarded  as  curses  by  another.  Kai,  the  general 
word  for  food,  is  not  used  at  Rotorua,  because  it  was  the  name 
of  a  great  chief,  and  the  word  tami  has  been  substituted  for 
it.  If  a  person  of  another  tribe  were  to  use  it  there,  it  would 
be  viewed  as  a  curse.  Almost  every  tribe  had  some  words 
which  were  in  a  similar  way  interdicted,  and  with  which  it  is 
necessary  to  be  acquainted,  to  avoid  giving  offence. 

A  chief  named  Rona,  one  night  being  very  thirsty,  when 
his  wife  was  from  home,  was  compelled  to  go  to  the  spring 
himself,  much  to  his  annoyance,  as  it  was  degrading  for  him, 
a  chief,  to  do  so ;  as  he  went,  the  moon  became  overcast,  and 
he  struck  his  foot  against  a  stone ;  in  his  anger  he  said, 

''  Awhea  te  puta  ai  te  marama  upoko  taona  ?  " 

"  When  will  the  moon  make  its  cooked  head  appear  ?  " 
which,  being  a  great  curse,  caused  the  moon  immediately  to 
descend,  and  take  both  him  and  his  calabash  up  with  it.    This 
is  the  way  the  natives  account  for  the  spots  on  its  surface. 

Closely  connected  with  religion,  was  the  feeling  they  enter- 
tained for  the  Kura,  or  Red  ;  it  was  the  sacred  color.  Their 
idols,  their  sacred  stages  (Pataka)  for  the  dead,  and  for  offer- 
ings or  sacrifices,  their  urupa,  their  chief  ^s  houses,  their  war 
canoes,  were  all  thus  painted. 

The  way  of  rendering  anything  tapu,  was  by  making  it  red. 
When  a  person  died,  his  house  was  thus  painted ;  when  the 
tapu  was  laid  on  anything,  the  chief  erected  a  post  and  painted 
it  with  the  kura ;  wherever  a  corpse  rested,  some  memorial  was 
set  up  ;  oftentimes  the  nearest  stone,  rock,  or  tree  served  as  a 

Kei  a  Rangi  riri  *  Then  you  return  to  Rangi  riri's  fount. 

Haukumea  hautoia  Come,  pull  away  at  my  bait,  drag  out 

Nau  ka  anga  atu,  my  line.    If  finished  be  your  nibbling, 

Anga  atu  nau ;  then  begone ;  but  if  you  will  bite  again, 

Ka  anga  mai,  anga  mai.  then  come  quickly. f 

*  Rangi  riri  is  a  foantain  in  the  sea  near  Hawaiki,  and  is  the  soorce  whence  all  ftsh  come, 
t  This  Is  a  cone  upon  some  nnknown  enemj  of  the  fisher,  who  had  bewitched  the  flsh  so 
that  they  would  not  come  to  his  bait,  thereby  cansinK  him  ill  lack. 


96  KURA RED. 

monument;  but  whatever  object  was  selected,  it  was  sure  to 
be  painted  red.  If  the  corpse  was  conveyed  by  water,  wherever 
they  landed,  a  similar  token  was  left ;  and  when  it  reached  its 
destination,  the  canoe  was  dragged  on  shore,  painted  red,  and 
abandoned.  When  the  hahunga  took  place,  the  scraped  bones 
of  the  chief,  thus  ornamented,  and  wrapped  in  a  red-stained 
mat,  were  deposited  in  a  box  or  bowl,  smeared  with  the  sacred 
color,  and  placed  in  a  painted  tomb.  Near  his  final  resting- 
place  a  lofty  and  elaborately  carved  monument  was  erected  to 
his  memory ;  this  was  called  he  tiki,  which  was  also  thus  colored. 

In  former  times  the  chief  anointed  his  entire  person  with 
red  ochre  and  oil ;  when  fully  dressed  on  state  occasions,  both 
he  and  his  wives  had  red  paint  and  oil  poured  upon  the 
crown  of  the  head  and  forehead,  which  gave  them  a  gory 
appearance,  as  though  their  skulls  had  been  cleft  asunder. 

Red  appears  to  have  ever  been  a  sacred  color  ;  it  is  still  so 
universally  in  heathen  lands,  and  has  been  so  from  remote 
antiquity.  The  tabernacle  was  covered  with  skins  dyed  red  ; 
the  houses  of  princes  were  ceiled  with  cedar,  and  painted  with 
vermilion.  Ezekiel  speaks  of  the  Chaldean  images  pourtrayed 
with  vermilion.  The  heathen  power  is  described  by  St.  John 
as  a  great  red  dragon,  and  the  an ti- Christian  one  as  a  woman, 
clothed  in  scarlet,  and  sitting  on  a  scarlet  colored  beast. 

Red  was  the  distinguishing  color  of  kings,  princes,  and  rich 
men ;  it  still  is  the  color  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  and  his 
Cardinals,  who  are  clothed  entirely  in  red,  even  from  their 
hats  to  their  very  shoes. 

It  is  the  chief  prized  color  of  all  savages,  and  Maori  tradi- 
tion records,  that  when  they  came  from  Hawaiki,  they  brought 
a  supply  of  kura  with  them,  that  they  might  not  be  without 
so  necessary  an  article. 


rABVBD  BOX. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


CnSTOMS    RELATING    TO    THE    DEAD. 


The  Customs  relating  to  the  Dead  varied  in  almost  every  part 
of  the  island,  as  did  also  the  ideas  entertained  of  their  state 
after  death. 

The  interment  of  the  dead  vaa  considered  as  a  duty  of  the 
highest  importance,  especially  that  of  the  chiefs ;  as  for  poor 
slaves,  little  thought  was  bestowed  upon  them ;  they  were 
buried  or  not,  according  to  circumstances.  If  the  corpse  laid 
in  a  spot  where  it  was  not  ofiFensive  to  the  livinfj,  there  it  was 
left ;  if  otherwise,  a  hole  was  dug,  and  it  was  thrown  into  it. 
But  when  a  chief  died,  the  mournful  event  was  immediately 


98  cusrroMS  relating  ix)  the  dead. 

made  known  ;  a  loud  howl  or  wail  brought  all  the  neighbours 
together,  who  joined  in  the  doleful  cry.  Since  the  introduc- 
tion of  fire  arms,  the  custom  of  firing  oflTguns  has  been  adopted, 
as  a  powerful  aid  to  the  human  voice,  in  testifying  sorrow  for 
the  dead.  A  native  has  no  idea  of  silent  grief.  The  greater 
the  noise,  the  greater  the  sorrow ;  and  the  longer  it  is  kept  up, 
the  greater  the  honor  paid.  Every  friend  or  relative  shows 
his  respect  for  the  dead,  by  the  number  of  guns  discharged  ; 
this  is  called  he  maimai,  aroha. 

One  of  the  first  things  was  to  make  the  kaheru,  or  spade, 
which  was  required  for  the  digging  of  the  grave  ;  when  such 
was  needed,  this  was  rendered  sacred  by  the  karakias  which 
were  repeated.*  Whilst  it  was  being  made,  and  until  the  inter- 
ment, the  body  laid  in  state,  dressed  out  in  the  finest  mats,  and 
ornamented  with  feathers ;  the  mere,  the  gun,  and  spear  being 
placed  by  its  side.  The  grave  was  then  dug  in  the  house  of  the 
deceased,  in  which  the  body  was  placed  in  a  sitting  posture, 
the  limbs  being  retained  in  that  position  by  bandages.  The 
body  still  being  dressed  in  the  best  garments,  adorned  with  the 
family  ornaments  of  green-stone  and  shark's  teeth  ;  it  was  then 
wrapped  up  in  a  fine  sleeping  mat,  the  grave  was  covered  over 
with  planks  and  a  little  soil.  It  is  still  usual  to  inter  the 
property  of  the  chief  with  him,  especially  all  things  which  have 
touched  his  person  during  his  illness,  such  as  garments,  &c. 

*  The  karakia  used  on  this  occasion,  is  a  very  long  one ;  the  following  is 
the  commencement: — 

Ko  pi  ko  pa  hua  te  ata,  Closed  up,  closed  up, 

Ka  kai  e  i  nga,  (In  the  womb  of  night) 

Kainga  ngaki  o  te  With  the  early  dawn, 

Matna,  i  waiho  Eat  the  sacrifice  of  the  dead, 

I  te  ao  nci,  From  the  cultivation  of  your  father, 

Ko  pi  ko  pa  hua  te  Which  is  left  in  the  world. 

Ata,  ka  kai-e-.  Closed  up,  closed  up, 

E  hinu  ra,  he  taro  ra,  In  early  dawn, 

Ko  te  kai,  kai  namu  Eat  the  spirit  of  the  fat,  the  taro, 

Ai,  kia  wangai  ia.  Your  food  to  feed  you  is  the  fly, 

Kai  namu  ki  pai-rau  ru.  Eat  it  in  Pairau  your  abode. 

&c.,  &c. 

Even  Christian  natives  regard  the  spade  used  in  digging  a  grave  as  being 
tapu,  and  do  not  like  to  use  it  again,  except  for  the  same  purpose. 


■t.' 


CUSTOMS   RELATING   TO   THE   DEAD.  99 

In  some  parts,  it  was  customary  for  the  widow  to  spread  her 
vjnat  over  her  husband's  grave,  and  constantly  sleep  upon  it ; 

\V  But  in  former  times,  one  or  more  of  the  chief's  wives  would 
^  strangle  themselves  to  accompany  and  wait  upon  their  lord  in 
oj^-    the  other  world;  for  this  purpose,  also,  several  slaves  were 
\N.ldlled,  that  the  chief  might  not  be  without  attendants.    Some- 
^   times,  the  chief  wife  would  have  her  husband's  head  cut  off, 
N^  and  dried,  and  then  always  sleep  with  it  by  her  side. 

In  other  places,  the  body  was  put  into  a  kind  of  frame, 
formed  by  two  pieces  of  an  old  canoe,  standing  about  six  feet 
high,  and  forming  a  hollow  place,  in  which  the  corpse  was 
seated  on  a  grating,  to  allow  the  flesh,  as  it  decomposed,  to 
fall  through.  After  a  certain  time,  the  skeleton  was  removed, 
and  the  bones  were  scraped ;  this  was  the  Ngapuhi  custom.  In 
the  south,  where  the  body  was  interred,  the  first  rukutanga 
tupapaku,  or  digging  up  of  the  corpse,  took  place  about  four 
weeks  after  the  nehunga,  or  burial,  when  a  feast  was  made  by 
the  relations  and  friends  of  the  dead ;  on  this  occasion,  the 
tohunga  extracted  two  or  more  of  the  molar  teeth  of  the 
corpse,  which  he  tied  to  a  small  stick  or  fern  stalk,  and  then 
^aid  upon  the  food,  which  was  prepared  for  the  oven ;  this 
was  called  te  umu  o  te  pera,  or  the  oven  of  the  putrified  flesh.* 
The  first  was  tapued  for  the  tohunga;  the  second  oven  was 
for  the  guests.  While  the  teeth  laid  on  the  food,  a  long 
karakia  was  repeated  over  them  ;  afterwards  the  ornaments  of 
the  corpse,  which  had  been  buried  with  it,  consisting  of  shark's 
teeth  or  green-stone,  were  removed,  and  worn  by  the  relatives, 
for  the  ceremony  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  intended  to 
wakanoa,  or  take  off  the  tapu  from  the  body,  so  that  the  orna- 
ments might  be  again  used,  which  otherwise  they  could  not 
have  been.  When  the  ceremony  was  over,  the  two  teeth  were 
bored,  and  worn  as  ear  ornaments  by  the  nearest  relative ;  the 
body  was  then  again  wrapped  up  in  a  fine  mat,  and  reinterred. 
After  two  years,  the  bones  were  again  dug  up  ;  this  was 
called  te  Ruku-tanga  tuarua,  or  the  wakanoa-tanga  tuarua, 
when  the  hahunga,  or  scraping  of  the  bones,  took  place.    This 

*  Psalm  cyiii.,  28 — *'  And  ate  the  sacrifices  of  the  dead." 

H  2 


100  CUSTOMS   REIJiTING   TO  THE   DKAD. 

being  considered  an  indispensable  duty  to  the  remains  of  chiefs, 
all  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  dead  were  summoned  to 
assist,  and  a  great  feast  was  g^ven  on  the  occasion.  The  bones 
when  scraped,  were  painted  with  red  ochre  and  oil,  and  orna- 
mented with  feathers ;  they  were  then  carefully  wrapped  up 
in  a  fine  mat,  which  was  also  surrounded  with  several  others ; 
this  being  done,  the  sacred  bundle  was  deposited  in  a  small 
canoe,  which  was  elevated  on  a  pole,  or  oftentimes  it  was  placed 
in  a  miniature  house,  similarly  raised  up,  or  else  the  bones 
were  carried  to  the  top  of  some  sacred  tree,  and  there  left  on 
a  small  stage ;  sometimes  they  were  put  in  a  hollow  trunk,  or 
conveyed  to  a  cave  or  fissure  of  the  rocks,  where  they  were 
finally  left.  But  it  was  not  uncommon  to  burn  them  ;  when 
that  was  done,  it  was  called  the  tahunga,  or  burning. 

When  a  person  died,  food  was  placed  by  his  side,  and  some 
also  with  him  in  the  grave,  as  it  was  supposed  the  spirit  of  the 
deceased  fed  on  the  spirit  of  the  food  given  it. 

At  Taranaki,  the  child  of  a  chief  was  buried  in  the  whare 
tapuy  i.e.  its  father's  house,  in  the  middle  of  which  a  grave  was 
dug,  and  covered  over  with  boards,  on  which  the  family  slept. 
The  child  had  a  taro  placed  in  each  hand,  so  that  if  he 
descended  into  the  reinga,  he  might  have  food.  When  the 
relatives  thought  that  the  body  was  sufiiciently  decomposed, 
they  dug  it  up,  and  scraped  the  bones,  which  were  afterwards 
placed  in  an  ornamented  basket,  and  suspended  from  the  ridge- 
pole of  the  mahau,  or  verandah,  and  from  time  to  time  the 
priest  karakied  over  them,  to  assist  the  soul  in  ascending 
through  the  different  heavens.  If  it  did  not  reach  the  eighth 
heaven,  its  abode  was  not  verv  comfortable.  The  tenth  was 
regarded  as  the  chief  residence  of  the  gods.  Every  time  a 
prayer  was  uttered  over  the  bones,  it  was  supposed  to  aid  the 
soul  in  its  ascent.  When  asked  why  they  placed  the  taro  in 
the  hands,  if  they  thought  the  soul  ascended  to  heaven,  the 
reply  was,  they  were  not  sure  whether  it  ascended  or  descended ; 
they  knew  the  body  descended,  and  they  thought  it  probable 
the  soul  did  the  same ;  therefore,  they  put  a  seed  taro  in 
'••':  **|.'"-  dlie  grave,  that,  should  such  be  the  case,  they  might  be  right 
*  bblh  ways. 


CUSTOMS   RELATING   TO   THE   DEAD.  101 

Many,  however,  of  the  Taranaki  natives  had  no  faith  either 
in  the  ascending  or  descending  of  spirits  :^  they  thought  that 
the  dead  always  remained  near  their  bodies.  That  the  wahi 
tapu  (sacred  places),  which  are  generally  small  groves,  adjoin- 
ing their  pas,  in  which  they  were  interred,  were  also  filled  with 
their  spirits ;  but  if  a  person  died  a  violent  death,  he  wandered 
about  until  the  priest,  by  his  spells,  brought  his  spirit  within 
the  sacred  enclosure. 

When  a  chief  was  killed  in  battle,  and  eaten,  his  spirit  was 
supposed  to  enter  the  stones  of  the  oven,  with  which  his  body 
had  been  cooked,  which  retained  their  heat  so  long  as  it  re- 
mained in  them.  His  friends  repeated  their  most  powerful 
spells  to  draw  out  his  spirit  from  the  stones,  and  bring  it 
within  the  wahi  tapu. 

So  also,  when  any  were  slain  in  battle,  the  friends  endea- 
voured to  procure  some  of  their  blood,  or  fragments  of  their 
garments,  if  the  body  could  not  be  obtained,  over  which  they 
uttered  a  karakia,  and  thus  brought  the  wandering  soul  within 
this  spiritual  fold.  These  places  are  still  looked  upon  with 
much  fear,  as  the  spirits  are  thought  occasionally  to  wander 
from  them,  and  cause  all  the  sickness  their  relatives  suffer.  In 
them  the  tuahu,  or  native  altar,  the  toko  and  the  pataka,  or 
stage  for  offerings  to  the  gods,  were  placed :  it  was  thought  to  be 
extremely  dangerous  for  the  living  to  enter  either  them  or  the 
houses  where  the  dead  were  buried ;  in  almost  every  pa  nearly 
half  the  houses  belonged  to  the  dead.  When  the  owner  died, 
and  was  buried  in  his  house,  it  was  left,  with  all  it  contained ; 
the  door  was  tied  up,  and  painted  with  ochre,  to  show  it 
was  made  tapu,  and  then  no  one  ever  entered  it  again.  These 
abandoned  houses,  being  in  every  stage  of  decay,  gave  a  very 

*  Whakaeke,  a  karakia  to  facilitate  the  ascent  of  the  spirit : — 

I  ei!  tena  te  huri,  Alas!  this  is  the  tumiug  over, 

Te  huri  ka  whakarawe,  The  severing  the  link  of  life. 

Te  huri  e  whano  ai  koe.  The  turning  over  that  you 

Ki  to  tini,  May  join  the  many, 

Ki  to  maiio.  The  multitude, 

Ki  to  kauariki,  The  ariki  gone  before. 

Whakairi  atu,  Ascend  the  road 

To  ara  ki  tc  rangi.  To  heaven. 


102  (;irSlX>MS   KELATING   TO   THE   DEAD. 

unsightly  appearance  to  the  pa.  The  reason  assigned  for 
burying  in  houses  was^  that  the  chief  might  still  possess  the 
power  he  had  in  life,  and  not  seem  to  be  deprived  of  any  of 
his  rights  by  death. 

One  sign  of  grief  was  cutting  the  forehead  and  face  with  a 
piece  of  obsidian,  until  the  whole  person  was  covered  with  blood; 
this  was  always  done  by  the  wives  of  the  dead.  The  tohunga, 
also,  cut  off  the  hair  of  the  relatives,  and  cast  it  into  the  fire ; 
and  they  eat  fern  root  in  the  morning.   Kainga  i  te  ata  te  aruhi. 

When  any  friends  arrive  at  a  pa,  it  is  customary  for  them 
to  cry  over  all  those  who  have  died  since  they  were  last  there. 
They  weave  a  chaplet  of  green  branches,  or  of  a  beautiful 
lycopodium ;*  one  of  the  elder  females  of  the  party,  who  acts 
as  chief  mounier  on  the  occasion,  has  a  chaplet  of  dog's  hair 
round  her  temples,  sometimes  it  is  very  tastefully  made,  of  a 
kind  of  black  sea-weed;  they  then  present  themselves  before 
the  house  of  the  dead,  and  begin  the  cry  in  a  low  plaintive  tone ; 
the  lady,  who  leads  the  ceremonies,  throwing  about  her  anns, 
and  slowly  raising  her  head  and  eyes  to  heaven,  then  casting 
them  down  again,  and  crossing  her  arms  on  her  breast.  Until 
a  person  is  accustomed  to  these  scenes,  he  can  scarcely  refrain 
from  weeping  too,  it  appears  so  very  natural,  and  the  wail  seems 
to  come  from  the  very  bottom  of  the  soul.  The  virtues  of  the 
dead  are  repeated,  and  the  following  wail  is  used  on  such 

occasions :  for  a  male — He taku  makawe  hi.     Alas, 

the  covering  or  glory  of  my  head,  alas.  For  a  female — Haere 
e  hine  e  wai  i  te  ara  o  ittpuna,  kia  karanga  nut  mat  kei  o  km 
ha^  kei  o  matua,  hei  karanga  mai  ki  a  koe.  Go,  O  lady,  pursue 
the  path  of  your  ancestors ;  call  loudly  to  your  female  and 
male  ancestors,  they  summon  you.f 

*  Ho  pihi  1110  iigu  Tupapuku.  A  lament  for  the  doad. 

Taku  hei*  he  piripiri.  My  fragrant  bundle  the  piripiri, 

Taku  iiei  niokimoki^  My  fragrant  bundle  the  mokimuki, 

Taku  hei  tawiri  My  fragrant  bundle  the  tataka> 

Taku  kati  taramea,  My  sweet  juice  of  tlie  tarumea, 

Te  hei  o  te  pounamu,  llie  companion  of  the  groen-stone, 

I  liaramai  ai  —  e,  Is  gone — alas,  to 

1  runga  tc  Angai-ia-aua.         The  Angai  —  e  — . 
f  This  was  called  He  Pare  or  Taua. 

*  Thu  livi  wdA  a  little  acent  bug  or  bundle  tied  to  a  string  and  worn  rutuid  tlic  neck. 


REINGA. 


103 


The  tangly  or  wail,  was  not  confined  to  the  dead  ;  whenever 
friends  met,  the  tangi  was  raised,  they  cried  over  each  other. 
This  ancient  custom  probably  arose  from  the  insecurity  of  life 
in  former  days;  those  who  had  escaped  from  their  constant 
fights,  when  they  met,  cried  over  each  other  as  though  they  had 
been  dead :  even  we  sometimes  cry  for  joy,  at  seeing  any  dear 
friend,  relative,  or  child,  who  has  had  any  great  deliverance 
from  danger ;  the  custom  naturally  becomes  general  amongst 
a  savage  and  warlike  race,  like  that  of  the  Maori. 

When  the  dead  were  buried,  the  following  pihi  was  used,  by 
the  side  of  a  running  stream,  in  which  a  staff  was  stuck. 


To  ko  kai  i  te  po, 
Te  po  nui, 
Te  po  roa, 
Te  po  uri  uri, 
Te  po  tango  tango, 
Te  po  wawa, 
Te  po  te  kitea, 
Te  po  te  waia, 
Tcna  toko  ka  tu, 
Ko  toko  o 
Tano  rua  nuku. 


Place  a  staff  for  the  po  or  night, 

The  great  po, 

The  long  po, 

The  dark  po, 

The  gloomy  po, 

The  intense  po, 

The  unseen  po, 

The  unsearchable  po. 

Behold  the  staff  stands, 

The  staff  of 


Tane  rua  nuku. 

This  was  followed  by  one  for  the  living.  Another  staff  was 
then  stuck  in  the  water,  and  the  priest  said  : — 


Toko  kai  te  ao, 
Te  ao  nui,  te  ao  roa, 
Te  ao  marama, 
Te  ao  whekere, 
Tena  toko  katu, 
Ko  toko  IkuTMigi, 
Ko  toko  te  wai  ao, 
Ko  toko  te  ao  marama, 
Oti  mai  ki  te  ao. 


Place  a  staff  for  the  day, 
The  great  day,  the  long  day. 
The  bright  day. 
The  gloomy  day. 
Behold  the  staff  stands, 
The  staff  of  the  end  of  heaven, 
The  staff  of  flowing  light, 
The  staff  of  the  bright  world. 


This  is  all  for  the  day. 

The  prevailing  idea  of  the  abode  of  spirits  was,  that  they 
went  to  the  Reinga,  which  is  another  name  for  Po  or  Hades ; 
the  word  Being  a  literally  means,  the  leaping  place.  The 
spirits  were  supposed  to  travel  to  tlie  North  Cape,  or  land*s 
end,  and  there  passing  along  a  long  narrow  ledge  of  rock, 
they  leaped  down  upon  a  flat  stone,   and  thence  slinging 


104  REINOA. 

themselves  into   the   water    by   some   long   sea-weed,    they 
entered  Po,  the  Reinga  being  the  passage  to  it.* 

It  was  supposed  that  there  were  several  compartments  in 
Hades,  the  lowest  being  the  worst,  having  no  light  or  food, 
and  there  the  spirits  were  thought  gradually  to  pine  away,  and 
to  be  finally  annihilated.  Spirits  were  thought  to  require 
food,  and  to  feed  upon  flies  and  filth;  but  they  had  also 
the  spirit  of  the  kumara  and  taro.  Before  a  soul  enters  the 
Reinga,  he  has  to  pass  a  river  called  Waioratane,  the  keeper  of 
which  places  a  plank  for  him  to  go  over;  sometimes  he  will  not 
do  so,  but  drives  him  back  to  the  upper  regions,  with  friendly 
violence,  in  order  that  he  may  take  care  of  the  family  he  has  left 
behind ;  so,  likewise,  if  he  has  not  partaken  of  the  food  of 
the  Reinga,  he  may  return  again  to  the  earth.  If  a  person 
has  recovered  from  a  dangerous  disease,  or  from  anything 
which  threatened  his  life,  he  is  said  to  have  reached  Waiora- 
tane and  returned. 

The  following  account  was  given  me  of  an  old  woman  who 
was  said  to  have  died  near  Rotorua  not  many  years  ago : — She 
was  taken  ill  and  died,  as  they  thought.  They  laid  her  out 
in  the  native  fashion,  on  a  bier  in  her  house,  and  then  rubbing 
the  door  over  with  red  ochre,  as  a  token  of  its  being  tapu,  her 
relatives  left  her.  Some  days  after,  two  natives  were  paddling 
along  the  coast  in  their  canoe,  when  an  old  woman  called  to 
them  to  take  her  into  the  canoe.  They  landed,  and  were 
rather  frightened  at  her  appearance,  her  eyes  being  sunk  in 
her  head  and  glassy.  She  gave  the  following  account  of  her- 
self : — She  said,  she  had  returned  from  the  Reinga ;  that  after 
her  death,  she  came  to  a  water,  where  some  one  met  her, 
and  bid  her  run  and  call  for  a  canoe,  otherwise  she  would 
be  stopped  by  a  large  bird ;  she  accordingly  ran  with  all  her 
might,  and  called  for  one,  which  immediately  came  for  her, 

*  The  spirit  of  a  person  who  resided  in  the  interior  generally  carried  with  it 
some  tohu  or  remembrance  of  the  part  it  came  from,  such  as  a  leaf  of  the 
palm  tree ;  that  of  a  person  on  the  coast  took  with  it  a  kind  of  grass  which 
grows  by  the  sea  side.  A  portion  of  these  tohus  are  left  at  its  different  rest- 
ing places  on  its  way  to  the  Reinga ;  these  little  bundles  of  leaves  so  left  are 
called  Waka  u*s.     A  green  bundle  denotes  a  recent  death. 


REINOA.  105 

with  one  of  her  deceased  relatives  in  it,  but  she  had  only 
just  time  to  get  into  it,  before  a  great  bird  came  and  tried 
to  stop  her;  she  soon  reached  the  other  side,  and  saw  a 
kainga,  where  they  were  just  sitting  down  to  eat  their  food  ; 
she  recognized  several  of  her  acquaintance ;  they  oflTered  her 
a  fresh-made  basket  with  food  in  it,  but  her  relative  warned 
her  not  to  eat  of  it,  otherwise  she  could  never  return ;  so  when 
they  pressed  her  to  eat,  she  would  not  touch  it,  and  when  she 
looked  at  the  food  they  had  given  her,  she  perceived  that  it 
was  filth.  After  some  time,  her  relative  bid  her  get  up  and 
return.  She  obeyed,  and  he  told  her  that  she  might  go  back 
to  the  earth,  as  he  wanted  her  to  take  care  of  his  grandchild, 
for  it  was  too  young  to  be  left,  and  she  was  the  only  relative 
remaining  to  bring  him  up.  When  she  stepped  into  the  canoe, 
another  tried  to  stop  her,  and  wanted  to  go  likewise ;  it  was 
her  evil  spirit.  After  some  time,  it  was  permitted.  Her  rela- 
tive gave  her  two  very  fine  seed  kumara.  When  she  reached 
the  shore,  the  evil  spirit  likewise  wanted  to  get  out,  and  hinder 
her  from  doing  so,  but  her  relative  would  not  permit  him  to 
leave  the  canoe.  The  banks  of  the  coast  were  very  steep ;  there 
she  saw  the  roots  of  the  pohutukawa,  which  she  laid  hold  of  to 
pull  herself  up  by,  but  immediately  she  had  put  her  hands 
upon  them,  a  number  of  potiki  (infant  gods,  the  most  malicious 
of  all,)  ran  up,  and  were  going  to  pull  her  down,  when  she 
bethought  herself  of  the  seed  kumara,  and  threw  one  amongst 
them,  and  whilst  they  were  scrambling  for  it,  she  climbed  up, 
but  before  she  could  reach  the  top,  they  returned ;  she  then 
threw  the  second  kumara  amongst  them,  and  thus  diverting 
their  attention,  she  reached  the  top,  and  escaped,  and  safely 
arrived  at  her  house,  where  ber  spirit  again  entered  her  body. 
She  got  up  and  tried  to  open  the  door,  but  could  not,  as  it 
was  fastened  outside.  She  then  managed,  though  very  faint 
with  liunger  and  weakness,  to  creep  out  at  the  window,  and 
seeing  a  bowl  with  the  remainder  of  the  ochre  in  it,  which 
had  been  used  to  paint  her  door,  such  was  her  thirst,  that  she 
drank  it  all  off.* 

There  are  many  stories  told  of  persons  who  have  descended 

*  This  poor  woman  appears  to  have  been  in  a  trance. 


106  KEIKOA. 

into  tlie  Reinga  and  returned.  One  is  said  to  lieve  gone  there, 
who  stated,  that  when  he  jumped  into  the  sea,  he  found  it 
was  of  no  great  depth ;  tliere  was  a  lai^e  pUce  below,  into 
which  the  sun  shone ;  he  saw  a  door,  which  he  tried  to  opeu 
in  vain,  it  was  fastened ;  so  after  having  knocked  some  time 
to  no  purpose,  he  wisely  determined  to  revisit  the  earth. 

Another  man  went  down,  and  there  married  a  lady,  with 
whom  he  returned  to  his  own  place.  After  some  time  she  per- 
suaded him  to  go  back  with  her  to  the  Reinga,  so  they  went 
to  the  jumping  place  ;  when  they  got  there,  she  told  him  to 
go  first,  but  giving  the  lady  the  precedence,  he  bid  her  take 
the  first  jump  ;  after  some  dispute,  she  at  last  did  so;  her 
timid  partner,  changing  his  mind,  then  returned  home,  and 
left  his  wife  in  the  Reinga ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
TINI-BAtr. 


The  natives  have  innumerable  traditions,  which  are  generally 
known,  and  no  one  who  has  any  claim  to  be  thought  an  orator 
would  think  his  speech  complete,  if  he  couid  not  find  some 
appropriate  sentiment  from  one  of  these  traditions  or  songs,  to 
enrich  it. 

The  following  is  a  well  known  one,  and  though  containing  a 
great  deal  of  the  marvellous,  it  is  still  viewed  as  an  historical 
account  of  some  of  their  most  distinguished  ancestors,  and 
of  the  commencement  of  their  wars. 

Tini-rau  was  a  great  chief,  some  say  of  the  middle  island, 
but  others  of  Hawaiki ;  he  was  celebrated  for  his  iine  form 
and  his  great  vanity  ;  he  had  several  pools  filled  with  beauti- 


108  TINI-RAU. 

fully  clear  transparent  water,  which  served  as  looking  glasses 
to  admire  himself  in.  He  also  kept  a  stud — not  of  horses,  for 
they  were  then  unknown,  but — of  whales :  these  were  his  mokai, 
or  pets,  one  of  which  was  called  Tutunui.  The  fame  of  this  chief 
reached  the  ears  of  Hine-te-iwaiwa,  a  lady  of  a  distant  tribe, 
who  was  also  remarkable  for  her  great  beauty ;  she  fell  in  love 
with  him,  from  the  report,  and  at  last  nothing  would  satisfy  her, 
but  she  must  go  and  see  him.  One  day  when  she  was  out  with 
the  women  of  the  pa,  gathering  muscles,  she  suddenly  jumped 
into  the  sea,  and  dived  down ;  she  came  up  again  near  a  rock, 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  shore,  on  which  she  rested  for  some 
time,  then  diving  down  again,  she  had  a  long  submarine  journey. 
Meeting  with  many  adventures,  and  holding  long  conversations 
with  the  different  fish  she  met  with,  especially  the  sliark  and  the 
kahawai,  at  last,  she  came  up  near  the  abode  of  Tini-rau,  in 
the  form  of  half  fish  and  half  woman  ;  she  then  resumed  her 
usual  shape,  and  sat  down  considering  which  would  be  the  best 
way  of  introducing  herself  to  the  chief. 

Being  aware  of  Tini-rau's  admiration  of  himself,  the  plan 
she  adopted  to  attract  his  attention,  was  to  spoil  his  looking 
glasses,  by  jumping  into  them,  and  rendering  the  water  muddy. 

Now  Tini-rau  w^as  so  particular  about  his  looking  glasses, 
that  he  kept  an  owl  as  their  guardian,  who,  perched  upon  a  lofty 
tree  in  the  vicinity,  always  had  his  eye  upon  his  charge ;  imme- 
diately therefore  that  he  saw  Hine-te-iwaiwa  floundering  about 
in  them,  he  called  out  to  Tini-rau,  who  was  sitting  on  his 
elevated  stage ;  incensed  at  the  insult,  he  came  down  at  once 
and  went  to  the  pools,  where  he  soon  discovered  the  cause,  and 
equally  soon  formed  an  attachment  with  the  lady. 

Tini-rau's  wives,  however,  did  not  admire  their  new  com- 
panion, so  much  as  their  lord  and  master ;  he  was  therefore 
obliged  to  keep  her  apart  from  them.  After  some  time,  Hine- 
te-iwaiwa  gave  birth  to  a  child ;  this  event  caused  her  to  be 
viewed  with  still  greater  hatred  by  the  jealous  ladies ;  two  of 
them  determined  to  kill  her.  She  was  naturally  in  great  fear, 
but  as  they  separately  approached  her,  she  had  time  to  utter  a 
potent  spell,  and  then  threw  a  stone  at  the  first,  whose  body 
burst  open,  and  behold  it  was  filled  with  green  stone ;  she 


TINI-RAU.  109 

treated  the  second  lady  in  the  same  way,  and  with  a  similar 
result.     Thus  green  stone  was  formed. 

After  some  time,  |Iine-te-iwaiwa  returned  to  visit  her 
friends,  and  Tini-rau  missing  her  society,  went  to  her  village ; 
when  he  approached  the  place,  where  she  lived,  he  saw  some 
children  playing  at  the  back  of  the  pa,  in  a  swamp,  which  was 
covered  with  the  kakaho  or  reeds :  he  hid  himself  amongst  them, 
and  then  made  a  noise  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  children, 
who  came  to  see  what  it  was,  and  then  he  recognized  his  own 
child  by  its  ear  ornaments.  He  sent  it  to  its  mother,  with  a 
little  scented  bag,  she  had  given  him,  and  which  he  constantly 
wore  round  his  neck.  The  child  went,  and  its  mother 
immediately  recognized  the  love  token,  and  came  to  him, 
bringing  him  into  the  pa,  where  he  was  received  and  welcomed 
with  great  distinction,  and  many  feasts  were  given  on  his 
account.  In  fact,  their  entire  stock  of  provisions  was  soon 
consumed,  and  to  increase  the  evil,  they  were  unsuc- 
cessful in  fishing.  Tini-rau  saw  their  destitute  state,  and 
promised  them  a  plentiful  supply  of  fish  the  next  morning, 
provided  they  all  remained  in  their  houses  with  their  doors 
and  windows  closed  during  the  night,  and  did  not  open 
them  until  the  morning.  This  they  readily  agreed  to  do.  He 
then  uttered  one  of  his  powerful  spells,  and  immediately  a 
great  rushing  sound  was  heard,  which  continued  during  the 
whole  night,  and  in  the  morning  when  they  opened  their  doors, 
they  were  amazed  to  find  all  the  inside  of  the  pa  filled  with 
every  kind  of  fish,  which  reached  up  to  their  very  watas.* 

After  staving  some  time  with  the  relations  of  Hine-te- 
iwaiwa,  they  returned  to  Tini-rau's  abode,  where  she  again 
became  a  mother ;  but  when  the  child  was  born,  her  husband 
began  to  slight  her,  and  went  to  live  with  one  of  his  other 
wives.  When  Hine-te-iwaiwa  thought  she  was  near  her 
confinement,  she  sent  two  of  her  slaves  to  bring  Tini-rau,  that 
he  might  catch  some  fish,  for  which  she  had  taken  a  fancy. 
When  her  slaves  reached  the  outside  of  the  pa,  they  called  out 


*  The  wata  are  high  food  stores  or  stages,  erected  on  poles  about  five  feet 
from  the  ground,  to  secure  them  from  dogs  and  rats. 


110  TINl-RAU. 

Tini-rau-e.  He  answered,  -e-  Your  wife  is  unwell,  and  very 
near  her  confinement,  she  wishes  you  to  catch  her  some  fish. 
Tini-rau  went  on  board  his  canoe,  and  reached  his  wife's  abode. 
He  demanded,  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  Hine-te-iwaiwa 
replied,  my  child,  which  is  about  to  be  born.  When  he  had  seen 
her,  he  made  a  fence  of  nettle-branches  and  briars  bound  with 
flax,  aroimd  her  house,  and  left  her,  that  she  might  not  be  able 
to  leave.  Her  heart  was  very  dark,  at  such  treatment,  and 
shortly  afterwards  the  child  was  born.  When  Tini-rau  heard 
of  this,  he  went  and  began  to  open  the  fence  of  nettles  and 
brambles.  But  being  deeply  grieved  for  his  want  of  love, 
Hine-te-iwaiwa,  cried  to  her  brother,  "  O  Rupc,*  come  and 
take  me  and  my  child  away.'*  Rupe  flew  down  at  once. 
When  Tini-rau  returned,  Rupe  with  the  child  and  its  mother 
were  gone,  he  had  folded  them  up  within  his  wings  and  flown 
away.  Tini-rau  called  out  as  they  went,  "  O  Rupe,  bring 
back  your  sister  and  the  child ! " 

Hine-te-iwaiwa  said  to  her  brother,  "Do  not  consent,  O  Rupe, 
rather  give  him  back  his  child."  He  gently  let  it  fall,  and 
Tini-rau  caught  it.  He  fed  it  with  water,  the  child  grew, 
and  he  named  it  Tu-huruhuru.  One  day,  the  children  went 
to  play  at  the  tcka,f  some  cast  their  stalks — they  did  not  fly. 
Tuhuruhuru  threw  his,  having  first  uttered  this  karakia  : 

Taku  teka  nei,  You  are  my  teka, 

Ko  te  teka  nawai,  The  teka  of  whom  ? 

Ko  te  teka  na  Tuhuruhuru,  The  teka  of  Tuhiu-uhuru. 

Te  roko  liina  to  rokohana.  Overtake  tlic  other  sticks  and  arrive  first. 

Jealous  of  his  skill  in  throwing  the  teka,  the  children  mocked 
him.  There  goes  the  teka  of  this  bastard,  where  is  his  mother  ? 
Tuhuruhuru  heard  their  taunts,  and  when  he  returned  home 
he  demanded  of  Tini-rau  his  father,  where  is  my  mother? 
Tini-rau  replied,  I  don't  know;  you  can't  reach  her ;  the  child 
demanded,  but  where  is  she,  you  do  not  tell  me,  lest  I  should 
go  to  her.     Tini-rau  replied,  you  are  welcome  to  go,  if  you 

^  Rupe  was  a  pigeon  and  the  parent  of  it.  He  was  brother  to  Hine-te- 
iwaiwa  ;  he  came  from  Hawaiki,  to  look  for  her 

f  A  game  with  fern  stalks,  which  arc  thrown  to  see  who  can  cast  them  the 
furthest,  and  hit  a  mark. 


TINI-RAU.  Ill 

like,  but  listen  to  my  advice;  when  you  have  reached  a  burnt 
piece  of  ground,  go  and  roll  yourself  in  the  ashes,  to  disguise^ 
your  countenance,  that  they  may  think  you  are  a  slave.  Tini- 
rau  said,  is  your  heart  strong  to  go  ?  the  child  replied.  Yes  it  is 
strong.  He  then  directed  him.  When  you  have  reached  the  pa, 
offer  to  carry  water  for  Rupe,  and  when  you  have  brought  it, 
do  not  pour  it  into  the  mouth,  but  into  the  nose  of  Rupe.  In 
the  evening,  when  Hine-te-iwaiwa  stands  up  to  dance  with  the 
damsels  of  the  place,  then  do  you  utter  a  karakia.  The  child 
said.  But  what  karakia  shall  I  say.     Tini-rau  replied, 

Te  tu  o  Hine-te-iwaiwa  The  fig  leaf  of  Hinc-te-iwaiwa 

Makers  makere  Has  fallen  fallen, 

Te  Taupaki  o  Hine-te-iwaiwa  The  covering  of  Hine-te-iwaiwa 

Makere  makere  .  Has  fallen  fallen. 

Tuhuruhuru  having  received  his  directions,  set  off.  When 
he  arrived  opposite  the  place,  he  saw  the  women  who  came  to 
carry  firewood,  he  therefore  rolled  himself  in  the  ashes  that  they 
might  take  him  for  a  slave  child.  Having  reached  the  dead 
wood,  he  laid  down  amongst  it.  When  the  women,  who  came 
to  collect  it  for  fuel,  saw  him  there  stretched  all  his  length, 
they  cried  out.  Here  is  a  nice  young  slave  for  us,  he  will  do 
for  Hine-te-iwaiwa.  On  reaching  the  pa,  they  therefore  turned 
him  over  to  her  ;  she  said  **Oh,  he  will  just  do  to  carry  water 
for  Rupe:"  before  long  he  was  sent  for  some.  When  Tu- 
huruhuru had  returned,  with  the  water,  Rupe  held  out  his 
hands,  but  Tuhuruhuru  poured  it  up  his  nose.  Rupe  cursed : 
the  young  slave  has  poured  the  water  up  my  nose ;  he  ran  after 
him,  and  gave  him  a  beating.   Tuhuruhuru  cried,  complaining. 

In  vain  have  I  come ! 

Kupe  is  my  imcle, 

Hine-te-iwaiwa  is  my  mother, 

And  Tini-rau  is  my  father. 
Rupe  said,  the  little  slave  grumbles  and  cries. 

In  the  evening,  Hine-te-iwaiwa  and  her  damsels  began  the 
dance.     Then  Tuhuruhuru  uttered  his  karakia : — 

The  garment  of  Hine-te-iwaiwa  has  fallen,  fallen. 
The  garment  of  Hine-te-iwaiwa  has  fallen,  fallen. 

Hine-te-iwaiwa  turned  aside  and  stooped  down,  because  she 


112  TIXl-RAU. 

had  dropped  her  garment.  Some  of  the  young  women  heard 
it,  and  said  to  Hine-te-iwaiwa,  the  young  slave  has  been 
making  game  of  your  taupaki.  Hine-te-iwaiwa  ran  after  him, 
and  gave  him  a  beating.     Tuhuruhuru  cried,  lamenting — 

In  vain  have  I  come  : 

Kupe  is  my  imole, 

Hine-te-iwaiwa  is  my  mother, 

And  Tini-rau  is  my  father. 
He  ran  crying  out  of  the  house ;  she  heard  her  child  crying, 
and  ran  to  catch  him,  being  grieved  for  what  she  had  done, 
saying,  Alas !  my  child,  my  youngest,  that  I  should  beat 
you.  Tuhuruhuru  thought  they  now  knew  him,  he  fled ;  they 
pursued  and  pursued,  but  could  not  overtake  him;  he  ran 
into  the  water  to  cleanse  himself  from  the  ashes.  Hine-tc- 
iwaiwa  called,  O  Rupe,  fly  down  at  once,  and  catch  your 
child.  Rupe  flew  down  to  the  water,  he  caught  him  up, 
and  brought  him  back  to  the  pa.  Hine-te-iwaiwa  cried  over 
her  child,  whom  she  had  now  recognized.  Alas!  alas!  my 
child,  who  was  abandoned  !  After  she  had  finished  her  tangi, 
she  asked  him,  what  message  did  his  father  send  to  her. 
Tuhuruhuru  replied,  he  said  we  and  Rupe  must  return  to  my 
naming.*  Rupe  and  his  sister  agreed  to  accompany  him. 
They  reached  the  abode  of  Tini-rau ;  he  was  rejoiced  to  see 
his  wife,  his  brother-in-law,  and  his  child.  They  slept,  and  the 
following  morning,  as  soon  as  it  dawned,  he  sent  off  a 
messenger  to  assemble  all  the  chiefs  for  the  naming  of  his 
child.  All  agreed  to  come;  Kae  also  came;  they  called 
him  Tuhuruhuru,  his  first  name  was  Tu-ai-takaroro.  The 
meaning  of  this  new  name  is  The  plumage  of  Rupe.  When 
the  ceremony  was  over,  all  returned  to  their  homes,  but  Kae 
remained.  After  most  of  the  company  had  dispersed,  Kae 
inquired.  Where  is  Tutunui,  the  pet  of  Tini-rau,  the  mokae  of 
my  grandchild  ?  will  it  not  serve  as  a  bridge  to  carry  me  over  ? 
Tini-rau  replied.  By  no  means,  lest  your  grandchild*s  pet 
should  die.  Kae  replied.  No,  I  will  be  very  careful  of  him. 
Tini-rau  at  last  consented,  but  gave  him  this  direction  :^ — "  E 
hia  hia  koe  ki  te  mimi  me  mimi  ki  te  papa  maui,  e  hia  hia  koe 

*  To  the  ceremony  of  bestowing  a  name  upon  him. 


Tiia-RAU.  113 

ki  te  tikoy  me  tiko  koe  ki  te  papa  maui.*'  Kae  agreed  to  all 
this.  Tini-rau  afterwards  charged  him,  when  he  approached 
the  pa,  and  he  shakes,  you  must  get  off,  and  go  on  shore, 
lest  you  chafe  his  belly  against  the  bottom,  and  he  should 
die.  Kae  assented,  saying.  Yes,  I  am  aware  of  it,  and  will  do 
as  you  say.  He  then  got  on  the  back  of  the  pet  whale,  but 
he  paid  no  attention  to  the  directions  given  him,  for  when  he 
got  outside  to  sea,  ka  hiahia  ia  ki  te  mimi,  ka  mimi  ia  ki  te 
papa  matau,  ka  tiko  ia  ki  te  papa  matau  ;  when  he  approached 
the  shore,  which  is  close  outside  the  pa,  Tutunui  began  to 
shake.  ICae  paid  no  attention,  he  still  kept  on  his  back,  he 
chafed  his  belly  against  the  bottom.  Tutunui,  the  pet  whale 
of  Tini-rau  was  killed,  the  people  of  that  pa  cut  him  up,  and 
cooked  him.  Tini-rau  kept  waiting  for  his  return :  night 
passed  away,  the  morning  also,  and  yet  he  did  not  come 
back ;  at  noon,  the  tonga  or  N.  E.  wind  arose,  and  brought 
the  smell  of  the  ovens  to  his  nose.  Tini-rau  cried  in  his 
sorrow,  the  fragrance  of  Tutunui  is  wafted  from  haruru  atea, 
(a  place  of  Hawaiki).  From  that  time,  from  the  death  of 
Tutunui,  the  heart  of  Tini-rau  became  dark.  He  exclaimed,  I 
must  have  Kae  for  my  revenge.  After  many  nights'  thought, 
he  said  to  his  wife  and  to  the  women  of  his  place.  Go  and  fetch 
Kae ;  the  women  answered.  We  don't  know  him.  Tini-rau 
replied.  You  will  find  him  out  by  his  teeth ;  but,  they  said. 
How  shall  we  be  able  to  see  them  ?  Play  some  silly  game,  was 
the  reply.  Enough,  the  women  agreed ;  they  got  into  their 
canoe,  and  paddled  away.  When  they  reached  the  pa,  they 
entered  the  house  where  Kae  lived.  They  found  that  tutau, 
or  singing  in  turns,  he  whae  (cats'  cradles),  he  haka  (singing 
with  gestures),  and  he  waiata  (songs),  were  the  amusements  of 
the  evening.'  But  Kae  did  not  laugh.  They  inquired,  What 
is  the  haka  that  will  make  him  laugh  ?  They  at  last  found  the 
puapua,  the  waitoremi^  the  anaana.  They  sung  the  waitoremi: 
he  laughed.  They  saw  the  hollow  space,  Kae  had  lost  his 
front  tooth ;  this  was  sufficient,  they  gave  over.  They  re- 
peated this  rotu,*  or  charm,  to  send  him  to  sleep: — 

*  The  rotu  is  a  potent  spell  to  throw  a  person  into  a  deep  sleep ;  the  same 
word  is  used  in  Tahaiti  for  prayer. 

I 


114  TINl-RAU. 

0  mata  e  tiromai,  0  eyes  that  behold, 

Nana  tu  wakarclma,  Be  you  closed  in  sleep, 

Tu  wakamoea,  e  moe,  Be  you  fast  bound  in  sleep,  sleep. 

He  tried  to  resist  its  power,  and  placed  two  pieces  of  pearl- 
shell  over  his  eyes,  to  make  them  think  he  was  awake :  but  in 
vain.  Kae  could  not  withstand  the  charm ;  he  fell  fast  asleep ; 
he  was  completely  overpowered,  with  every  one  in  the  house 
as  well.  They  then  went  gently  and  carried  him  on  board 
their  canoe,  and  paddled  off  with  him  to  their  house ;  there  they 
laid  him  by  the  pillar  of  the  house,  and  left  him  to  sleep. 

In  the  morning  they  heated  the  oven;  sow-thistles  and 
other  leaves  were  used  as  a  wariki  or  covering  for  it,  and 
food  was  placed  in  a  basket  by  the  side;  they  then  awoke 
Kae.  Sir,  Sir,  arise,  although  you  sleep  alone  there.  Yes, 
he  replied,  tliis  is  my  sleeping  place ;  come  then  to  eat :  he 
came.  Tini-rau  motioned  him  to  his  place  on  the  green 
covering  of  the  oven  ;  he  sat  down  upon  it,  and  stretched  out 
his  hand  to  take  the  food ;  they  then  poured  water  over  his 
back ;  the  thick  steam  from  the  heated  oven  beneath  immedi- 
diately  arose,  and  stifled  him — Kae  was  dead.  They  then 
covered  him  over  with  the  leaves  :  he  was  cooked  and  eaten.* 

*  In  another  version  of  this  story  :  Tini-rau  despatched  his  sisters ;  when 
they  discovered  Rac,  who  had  built  himself  a  new  house,  they  sent  the  exact 
pattern  of  it  to  Tini-rau ;  he  caused  a  fac-simile  of  it  to  be  made ;  they  then 
rotued  the  entire  pa,  carried  off  Kae,  and  laid  him  in  the  new  house.  In  the 
morning,  one  went  into  his  house  and  awoke  him,  saying,  well  Kae,  where  are 
you  ?  ho  replied,  where  should  I  be,  but  in  my  house.  Another  crept  in  and 
said,  well  Kae,  where  are  you  ?  he  looked  about,  but  could  find  no  difference, 
as  both  houses  were  exactly  alike ;  he  said,  I  am  at  home.  A  third  came ;  and 
thrusting  the  door  a  little  aside,  demanded.  Well,  Kae,  where  are  you  ?  Kae 
looked  out,  and  saw  a  different  scenery,  and  said,  I  don't  know.  They  then 
told  him  where  he  was,  and  killed  him. 

Ko  te  mea  i  kai  kino  ai  tc  Tangata  maori. 
Na  Kae  i  timata,  ko  tutunui  he  tohora,  Titiro  ana  nga  tamahinc  a  Tini-rau, 
ko  Kae  ka  patua  na  Tini-rau :  i  patu  kai  rawa,  muri  iho  ko  Tuhuruhuru,  ka 
patua  hei  utu  mo  Kae :  ka  ea  te  mate  o  Kae,  ka  utua  e  Wakatau :  ka  mate  ko 
Mango  pare,  ko  Manga  waho  .Na  titiro  ana  a  Wakatau,  ka  tahuna  te  ware  o 
te  Tini  o  Manono.  Ka  tahi  ka  tupu  mai  ki  nga  uri :  ka  tahi  ka  kainga  te  tan- 
gata  no  te  witinga  mai  o  Tainui  o  te  Arawa,  o  te  mata  atua  ki  tcnei  motu  ka 
timata  ai  te  ku  tangata. 

Na  Iloturoa  tenci  Korero. 


TRADITION   OF   MATUKU   AND   WITI.  115 

Matuka  and  Witi  were  two  great  cannibals.  After  having 
killed  and  eaten  many  persons,  Matuku  murdered  a  great 
chief,  named  Waheroa,  and  carried  oiF  his  wife.  His  friends, 
however,  determined  not  to  suffer  such  a  crime  to  go  un- 
punished, they  therefore  went  to  the  wood,  and  selected  a 
suitable  tree  for  a  canoe,  that  they  might  pursue  after  Matuku ; 
having  found  one,  they  set  fire  to  it,  and  burnt  it  down,  but 
during  the  night  *  Te  tini-o-te  Hake-turi  (Hake-turi's  flock  of 
little  birds)  came  and  raised  it  up  again.  They  had  therefore 
a  second  time  to  bum  it  down.  Haki-turi,  however,  returned 
with  his  multitude  in  the  night,  and  again  made  the  tree 
whole;  this  was  repeated  several  times.  Wondering  what 
could  be  the  cause,  they  determined  to  watch  ;  having,  there- 
fore, burnt  down  the  tree,  they  hid  themselves  near  it,  and 
when  te  tini-o-te  Hake-turi  appeared,  they  suddenly  made  such 
a  great  noise,  that  the  birds  flew  away.  Some  of  the  trees 
themselves  were  so  alarmed,  that  they  held  down  their  heads, 
and  have  never  been  able  to  raise  them  up  since ;  amongst 
these,  were  the  ponga  (a  fern  tree)  and  the  kareao  (supple 
jack),  whose  tender  shoots  are  now  always  bent.  When  they 
had  adzed  out  the  canoe,  and  sewed  on  the  top  sides,  and  got 
everything  ready  to  go  to  sea,  they  found  the  thicket  was 
so  dense,  that  they  could  not  launch  it.  They  therefore 
repeated  this  karakia : —  • 

Waea  turihunga,  Thrust  aside  the  thicket, 

Waea  taramoa.  Thrust  aside  the  brambles, 

Ka  puta  ki  waho,  And  Witi  and  Matuku 

Ko  Witi  kq  Matuku,  Shall  come  forth,  f 

The  thicket  immediately  opened.  The  canoe  was  then 
launched,  and  all  the  warriors  embarked.  The  name  of  the 
canoe  was  Riwaru.X    They  pulled  over  to  Matuku*s  residence ; 

*  Te  tini-o-te  Hake-turi  appear  to  be  a  kind  of  fairies,  in  the  form  of  small 
birds,  and  in  very  large  numbers.  In  the  myth  of  Tawaki,  Tongo  hiti  is  spoken 
of  as  being  the  chief  of  a  similar  race,  although  he  himself  was  a  glow  worm. 

t  This  is  a  saying  for  the  beginning  of  a  quarrel : — Push  aside  the  barriers, 
and  anger  will  burst  out. 

X  The  canoe  had  three  names : — 

The  first,  Riwaru,  because  the  damp  of  the  forest  made  it  green. 

I  2 


116  TRADITION   OF   KUPE. 

on  arriving  at  the  place,  where  they  expected  to  find  him, 
they  discovered  that  he  was  from  home,  but  the  woman  they 
were  in  search  of  was  within ;  they  asked  her  how  they  might 
most  easily  capture  Matuku.  She  advised  them  to  place  a 
large  noose  over  the  door,  and  to  conceal  themselves  in  the 
sides  of  the  house ;  but  she  recommended  them  by  no  means 
to  attempt  to  catch  him  by  the  neck,  but  by  the  waist,  as  in 
the  former  part  he  was  too  strong  to  be  held.  They  soon 
heard  him  coming,  for  he  made  the  ground  shake  under  his 
feet  as  he  went  along.  He  had  a  load  of  human  flesh  on  his 
shoulders,  which  he  threw  down  as  he  approached  the  door.  The 
woman  called  to  him,  but  suspecting  some  treachery,  he  said, 

Piro  piro  haimgaunga  taku  kai,  he  tangata, 
I  scent  my  food — a  man. 

She  assured  him  all  was  right,  so  he  crept  in  on  his  hands  and 
knees ;  as  soon  as  he  got  his  head  and  shoulders  in,  they  drew 
the  noose  tight  and  secured  him.  They  cut  off  one  of  his 
hands,  but  he  told  them  they  could  not  kill  him ;  this  he 
repeated,  as  they  chopped  off  each  limb.  But  when  they  had 
severed  his  head,  he  died,  and  according  to  some  accounts,  was 
changed  into  the  bittern,  which  still  goes  by  his  name. 

When  he  was  dead,  the  warriors  asked  the  woman  how  they 
might  also  capture  Witi.  She  told  them  where  they  would 
find  the  den  in  which  he  lived,  and  said,  that  if  they  placed 
a  noose  over  it,  and  made  a  noise,  the  monster  would  be  sure 
to  come  out  and  attack  them,  as  he  did  every  one  who  came 
near  his  abode.  They  did  as  she  advised,  and  when  he  put  out 
his  head,  they  immediately  drew  the  noose  tight  and  despatched 
him  with  ease. 

The  first  person  who  reached  New  Zealand,  is  acknowledged 
by  all  to  have  been  Kupe ;  he  came  in  the  canoe  Mata-o-rua 
to  Wanganui-a-te-ra,  seeking  for  his  wife  Kura  Marotina,  who 
had  been  carried  off  by  his  younger  brother  Hoturapa.  He 
went  from  the  place  of  his  landing  as  far  as  Patea ;  there  he 

The  second,  Tuirangi,  when  it  reached  the  sea,    it  was  painted  and 
ornamented. 
The  third,  Pakawai,  when  it  was  drawn  up  on  shore. 


TRADITION   OF   KUPE   AND  TURI.  117 

heard  the  cry  of  the  kokako  inland,  and  mistook  it  for  the 
call  of  a  man.  Hua  noa  he  reo  te  tangata,  he  exclaimed,  and' 
sent  to  see  who  it  could  be,  but  found  no  one.  Not  seeing  any- 
thing of  her,  he  set  up  a  post  there,  and  returned  to  Wanganui- 
a-te-ra,  and  thence  again  to  Hawaiki ;  hence  the  saying — 

Hoki  Xupe,  e  kore  ia  e  hokimai. 
Come  back,  Eupe,  he  cannot  return. 

Several  extraordinary  works  are  attributed  to  him ;  such  as 
severing  the  two  islands  asunder,  thus  forming  Cook's  Straits, 
and  also  cutting  off  New  Zealand  from  Hawaiki,  to  which  it 
is  said  to  have  been  previously  united.  (May  there  not  be  here 
preserved  some  remembrance  of  a  grand  Southern  Continent 
being  submerged). 

Ka  tito  axL,  ka  tito  au,  ka  tito  au,  I  sing,  I  sing,  I  sing, 
Kia  Eupe  te  Tangata,  Of  Kupe,  the  man 

Nana  i  tope  tope  te  whenua,  Who  cut  off  the  land, 

Tu  ke  a  Kapiti,  Stands  apart  Eapiti, 

Tu  ke  Mana,  Stands  apart  Mana, 

Tu  kc  Ara  pawa.  Stands  apart  Ara  pawa. 

Ko  nga  tohu  tena,  These  are  the  signs 

A  taku  tupuna,  Of  my  ancestor, 

A  Kupe,  nana  iwaka  Of  Kupe,  who  went  over 

Tomcne  Titapua,  Titapua, 

Ka  tomene  au  te  whenua-e-.  Who  went  over  the  land. 

It  was  from  the  account  Kupe  gave  when  he  reached  Hawaiki, 
that  other  canoes  came ;  six  are  said  to  have  arrived  together. 
The  chief  of  this  second  expedition  was  Turi.  He  is  univer- 
sally allowed  to  have  been  the  first  person  who  settled  on  the 
western  coast;  and  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  part,  was 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  demi-god. 

Turi  is  said  to  have  fled  from  Hawaiki  on  account  of  a 
quarrel.  Popouakoako,  his  younger  brother,  at  the  ingathering 
of  the  kumara,  offered  one  to  Uenuku,  the  ariki,  (the  god  of 
the  rainbow,)  who  was  so  indignant  at  the  smallness  of  the 
offering,  that  he  swallowed  both  it  and  the  offerer  together. 
Turi,  in  his  anger,  slew  Oe-potiko,  the  son  of  Uenuku,  and 
eat  him.  The  manawa  or  lungs  he  carried  to  Uenuku,  who 
having  eaten  them,  perceived  they  were  tliose  of  his  own  son. 
He  then  uttered  a  powerful  spell : — 


118  TRADITION  OF  KUPE  AND  TURI. 

Tikina  atu  te  tin!  o  nga  ti  rongotca,  Bring  me  the  many, 
Wakataka  mai,  kia  tini,  Of  nga  ti  rongo  tea, 

Eia  mano,  Let  many,  let  a  multitude  fall, 

Kia  nga  kia  te  mate  oe-potiki,         Let  oe-potiki  work  death. 
Eoreka  te  kai  mua,  The  first  vengeance 


Buna  mai  rongo  e — ,  Is  sweet,  assemble 

Ka  runa  ha-i The  rongo  he,  assemble. 

When  Tun  heard  that  this  karakia  had  been  uttered,  he 
went  and  brought  his  canoe,  Aotea,  from  his  father-in-law, 
Toto,*  Turi  embarked,  but  he  forgot  in  his  haste  the  tata 
(baler)  of  his  canoe,  which  was  called  Tupua  oronoku ;  his 
paddle  was  named  Kautu  ki  te  rangi.  The  pukeko,  the  rat,  the 
green  paroquet,  the  moeone  (a  small  bronze  beetle),  the  awato 
(the  grub  of  a  sphinx  moth,  which  preys  on  the  kumara),  the 
kumara,  the  karaka,  the  native  calabash,  were  taken  with  him, 
also  his  god,  who  was  carried  by  his  priest  Tapo ;  but  before 
he  had  proceeded  far,  he  pushed  Tapo  into  the  sea,  for  his 
supposed  filthiness.  Maru  grumbled  at  the  unjust  slight 
showed  to  his  priest,  and  said  by  the  mouth  of  Tapo,  if  you 
leave  without  my  servant  on  board,  we  shall  never  reach 
Nukuroa  (New  Zealand);  place  me  on  the  out-rigger  f^tt 
ama,)  and  we  shall  reach  Uku-rangi  (New  Zealand),  Turi 
consented  and  took  him  again  on  board.  He  went  on  shore 
at  Motiwatiwa,  (there  he  killed  his  dog  Iki  iki  rawea,)  there 
Potoru  eat  him,  and  he  became  deranged  by  doing  so ;  and 
was  lost  with  his  canoe  in  the  Gulf  of  Parata.f 

Turi  landed  at  Wangaparaoa,  where  he  planted  the  karaka, 
thence  he  sailed  to  the  Aupouri  (North  Cape),  thence  to 
Aotea,  and  there  he  left  his  canoe,  which  was  turned  into  a 
rock,  which  is  still  to  be  seen.  He  went  inland,  and  named  all 
the  rivers  Kawia,  Marakopa,  Mokau,  Moakatino,  Tangapo- 

*  Another  tradition  states,  that  Toto  built  his  canoe  in  a  small  river  named 
Taa-toni,  and  when  finished,  gave  it  to  his  son-in-law  Turi,  who  made  a  sail 
for  it,  which  they  called  Afata  o  rua,  and  sailed  to  Witi  Marama. 

t  Te  Waha  o  te  Parata.  It  was  supposed  that  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide 
is  occasioned  by  the  ocean  rushing  down  the  throat  of  Parata  and  being 
▼omited  out  again.  In  this  way  a  very  broken  sea  was  supposed  to  be  occasioned. 
Kupe  had  a  narrow  escape  from  the  Korokoro  o  Parata;  hence  the  saying,  no 
canoe  can  go  where  Kupe  went. 


TRADITION   OF   KUPE   AND  TURI.  119 

rutu,  Mimi,  Rini,  Waitara,  Wai  o  ngana,  Wai  Wakaio,  Kau 
pokonui,  Puni,  Waingangoro,  Tangaoe,  Hinga  ape,  (so  called 
from  his  slipping  there,  a  most  appropriate  name,  the  descent 
to  this  river  being  over  a  very  slippery  rock.)  Turi  named  all 
the  rivers  £rom  Aotea  to  Patea ;  and  Hou,  all  from  that  place 
to  Wairarapa.  At  Patea  he  planted  the  kumara,  at  a  spot 
called  Heke  heke  i  papa,  where  he  saw  Kupe's  post,  which 
stood  on  Rangi  tawhi.  He  took  up  some  of  the  soil  in  his 
hand,  and  smelled  it,  calling  it  a  rich  soil,  hence  the  saying  for 
good  ground,  this  is  the  earth  that  Turi  smelled;  there  he 
killed  his  dog,  Mata  Ware.  He  said  to  Taneroa,  his  daughter, 
either  the  men  or  his  children  have  stolen  it.  At  this  word 
Taneroa  fled,  and  went  to  live  at  Papa  wero,  where  she  had 
two  children.  She  said  to  them,  when  you  grow  up,  there 
will  be  food  enough  for  you  at  Rawaira-ra,  (on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,)  at  the  place  of  her  brother,  Turanga  i  mua. 
Turi  and  his  son  slew*  the  men  of  this  island.  The  name  of 
that  race  was  the  Kohi-kohi. 

When  Turi  left  his  pa,  to  go  to  fish  or  to  work  in  his 
cultivation,  that  his  enemies  might  not  be  aware  of  his 
departure,  and  also  that  he  might  take  all  his  people  with  him, 
and  not  be  obliged  to  leave  any  behind,  to  guard  the  pa,  he 
placed  a  matuku,  or  bittern,  in  it,  so  that  when  any  one 
came  they  might  hear  the  cry  of  the  bird — hu,  hu,  hu,  and 
fancy  he  was  at  home.  And  to  strengthen  the  matuku  in  the 
defence  of  his  pa,  he  uttered  the  following  incantation : — 

Ko  te  Matuku  i  hea  The  bittern  from  whence, 

Te  Matuku  i  Wai  aua,  The  bittern  of  Wai  aua, 

He  Matuku,  a  ha  te  Matuku,  The  bittern,  what  of  the  bittern  ? 

Matuku  tau  tiaki,  tau  aroaki,  The  bittern,    the   guardian,    the 

overlooker, 

Tau  aro  aki.  The  rustler  of  the  wings, 

Te  waka  rongona  manawa,  The  imitator  of  the  hum  of  men, 

*  That  there  were  inhabitants  of  the  land  before  the  arrival  of  the  Maori 
race  appears  highly  probable,  since  they  not  only  state  as  much  in  their  tradi- 
tions, but  abo  record  their  having  gradually  driven  away  a  race  far  inferior  to 
themselves,  and  compelled  it  finally  to  take  refuge  in  the  Chatham  Isles. 
This  despised  people,  by  way  of  reproach,  were  called  Kiri  waka  papa, 
which  we  may  translate  bare  sides,  from  its  ignorance  of  clothing. 


120  TRADITION    OF   NGA    HUI. 

Te  korero  te  wakarongona  a  te  Let  your  voice  resemble, 

Wananga,  waka  tikaia.  That  the  enemy  may  be  deceived, 

Kia  tika,  Be   quite   correct ;    be   perfectly 

Wakatonu  hia  kia  tonu  hau  e  correct, 

Kia  tonu,  Your  imitation, 

Ko  te  Matuku  i  hea,  The  bittern  fix)m  whence,       [&c. 

KotcMatukuiWaingongoro,&o.,  The   bittern  from  Waingongoro, 

This  is  repeated  to  each  of  these  rivers,  Tangahoe,  Hinga- 
hapa  Patea,  Wlienua-kura,  Waitotara,  When  the  Matuku 
heard  this  incantation  of  Turi,  he  was  strengthened  to  hu,  hu, 
hu,  in  the  pa,  and  thus  those  who  came,  hearing  his  voice, 
thinking  it  was  Turi,  were  afraid  and  fled  away. 

A  great  love  for  Hawaiki,  his  country,  then  seized  him. 
He  committed  suicide  by  running  into  the  Patea,  and  drowning 
himself.  This  is  all ;  —so  concludes  the  native  tradition.  The 
sites  of  Turi's  house,  Matangirei,  and  his  kumara  farm,  at 
Patea,  are  still  pointed  out ;  and  an  old  man  living  there 
said,  that  in  his  early  days,  the  land  marks,  which  were  sculp- 
tured stones,  sixty  in  number,  still  remained  ;  but  when  the 
Gospel  came,  they  destroyed  tlu^m  all.  Turi's  well  is  yet 
pointed  out. 

Nga  hui  came  from  Hawaiki  to  see  a  quarrel  between  the 
Mata  and  the  Pounamu,  which  had  its  origin  in  that  island. 
He  landed  on  the  East  Coast,  at  Wangaparau,  and  came  to 
Tauranga,  and  from  thence  to  the  Wairere  and  Taupo.  He 
then  crossed  over  to  Kapiti,  Arapawa,  and  Arahura,  near 
Wakatupa ;  when  he  reached  that  place,  he  obtained  the 
Pounamu  (green  stone)  in  a  lifeless  state,  and  there  he  laid  hold 
of  the  Kaukau  matu  and  Tukurangi ;  from  thence  he  returned 
to  the  Arawa  Mountains,  and  there  was  the  moa,  at  the  water- 
fall, and  there  he  killed  one,  and  carried  it  in  a  taha  (bark 
basket),  and  went  back  to  Hawaiki,  and  told  the  chiefs  of 
Hawaiki,  Tamate  Kapua,  Nga  Toro  i  rangi,  and  Hotu  roa, 
yonder  is  the  fine  country  named  Aotea  roa,  the  large  countr}'. 
These  persons  said  to  him.  How  shall  we  cross  over  to  it  ?  he 
replied,  Let  us  build  canoes.  The  canoes  were  commenced, 
the  first,  Arawa ;  the  second,  Tainui ;  the  third,  Aotearoa ;  the 
fourth,  Taki-tumu ;  the  fifth,  Kura-haupo ;  the  sixth,  Tonga- 
maru.     Tliey  all   left  Hawaiki  together ;    when  they  were 


TRADITION  OF  TAMA  TE   KAFUA.  121 

putting  on  the  haumi,  or  stern  part  of  the  canoe,  which  is  a 
separate  piece,  joined  on  to  the  end,  they  accidentally  killed 
Mania's  son,  whose  name  was  Tutenana  hau  ;  the  builders  of 
the  canoes  were  therefore  anxious  to  finish  them  as  quick  as 
possible,  and  get  away  before  the  child  was  missed.  Being  a 
chief  child,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  going  about  visiting  his 
friends,  and  staying  ten  days  at  a  time,  they  knew  he  would 
not  be  missed  for  some  time.  They  therefore  made  haste,  and 
paddled  away  from  Hawaiki,  having  buried  the  child  near  the 
place  where  they  adzed  out  their  canoes.* 

The  Arawa  first  sailed.  The  chief  of  it,  Tama  te  Kapua, 
called  to  Nga  toro  i  rangi,  to  come  and  eat  their  food  at  sea, 
or  tupekcy  that  is,  do  away  the  tapu,  by  making  it  noa  for 
them,  that  they  might  eat  on  the  voyage,  which  they  could  not 
have  done  till  the  principal  chief  took  oif  the  tapu,  so  that 
they  might  prosper.  They  succeeded  in  persuading  Nga  toro 
i  rangi  to  go  on  board,  also  his  wife  Kearoa,  and  so  he  went 
^ith  them  to  Aotea  roa.  Nga  toro  i  rangi  did  not  live  inside 
the  canoe,  being  too  sacred  a  person,  but  on  the  top,  their 
canoes  having  houses  built  on  them  with  wooden  side  poles, 
and  were  roofed  with  raupo.  They  landed  at  Wangaparau, 
and  came  on  to  Wake-tane,  and  Maketu,  and  there  left  the 
Arawa,  where  she  has  ever  since  remained,  turned  into  stone. 
The  Tainui  went  to  Kawia;  its  chief  was  Hoturoa.  The 
Aotea  roa  remained  for  a  time  at  Hauraki,  and  thence  sailed 
to  Otahuhu  in  company  with  the  Tainui  and  Tonga  maru, 
where  they  hauled  the  canoe  across  the  isthmus.-)-  The  Aotea 
roa  remained  at  Aotea ;  the  Tainui  at  Kawia ;  and  the  Tonga 
maru  at  Nga  ti  awa. 

Some  time  after  they  left  Hawaiki,  the  young  child  Tute, 
nangahau  Mania's  son,  was  missed,  but  they  could  not  dis- 
cover what  had  become  of  him,  until  Tuparaunui,  a  large 

*  Another  account  states,  that  this  boy  was  not  killed  by  accident,  but 
designedly,  by  Hoturoa,  for  mocking  his  work  as  he  was  adzing  out  his  canoe; 
and  that  he  buried  him  on  the  spot,  strewing  the  chips  of  his  canoe  over  it  to 
avoid  detection. 

f  From  the  Tamaki  to  Manukau  there  is  a  portage  of  not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  called  Ota  huhu :  by  dragging  their  canoes  across  this,  they 
passed  from  the  Eastern  Sea  to  the  Western. 


122  TRADITION   OF   LAKE   MAPERE. 

I 

fly  and  an  ancient  god,  came  to  their  aid,  by  his  exquisite 
power  of  smell,  he  found  out  where  he  was  buried,  and  by  his 
low  thrilling  sound  over  the  spot,  enabled  them  to  discover 
the  poor  child's  remains. 

At  the  foot  of  Pukenui,  a  volcanic  hill,  about  three  miles 
distant  from  Waimate,  Bay  of  Islands,  there  is  a  very  fine 
lake,  from  five  to  seven  miles  long,  and  two  or  three  broad,  at 
an  elevation  of  more  than  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea ;  it  is  called  by  the  natives  Mapcre.  There  is  a 
curious  tradition  relative  to  its  formation.  They  state  that, 
once  it  was  a  plain,  containing  five  villages  ;  in  one  of  these, 
situated  near  a  wood,  lived  a  chief,  who,  wanting  some  water, 
when  his  wives  and  slaves  were  from  home,  and  being 
ashamed  to  let  his  neighbours  see  him  draw  it  at  the  public 
fountain,  went  and  began  to  a  dig  a  well  in  a  retired  spot ;  but 
no  sooner  had  he  dug  down  a  little  way,  than  flames  burst 
forth  from  it,  which  rapidly  spread,  and  consumed  the  trees 
and  village  ;  large  stones  also  were  shot  out,  but,  after  a  time, 
the  fire  was  exhausted,  and  water  gushed  up,  which  formed 
the  present  lake.  The  survivors  preserved  the  names  of  the 
places  and  families  by  calling  the  head  lands  after  them.  Two 
old  chiefs  still  living  at  Mawe,  a  village  on  its  banks,  declare 
that,  when  they  were  boys,  watching  with  their  tribe,  by  the 
side  of  the  lake,  for  fear  of  their  enemies,  in  bravado  they  ran 
up  the  hill  Putaia,  a  very  sacred  spot,  which  has  several 
remarkable  fissures  in  it ;  down  one  of  these  they  threw  some 
stones.  Afraid  of  what  they  had  done,  they  ran  away,  when 
a  tremendous  rumbling  took  place,  and  the  earth  shook 
under  them  until  they  were  so  frightened  that  their  teeth 
chattered.  After  some  time,  they  saw  an  island  suddenly  rise 
up  in  the  middle  of  the  lake,  which  extended  nearly  across  it ; 
it  remained  the  whole  of  that  day,  and  then  gradually  sunk, 
leaving  a  shoal  in  its  place,  which  is  still  to  be  seen,  the  deepest 
water  being  near  the  shores.* 

*  This  tradition  is  probably  founded  on  fact.  That  the  site  of  the  present 
lake  was  a  wood,  is  evident  from  the  number  of  trees  which  are  still  standing 
in  the  water.  When  Captains  Ross  and  Crozier  came  to  Waimate,  they  cast 
the  seine  into  the  lake  at  some  distance  from  the  shore ;  but  it  was  so  entangled 


ORIGINAL   CANOES.  123 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Canoes  which  are  reported  to 
have  brought  the  first  settlers  to  the  island : — 

1 .  Mataorua. — Its  chief  was  Kupe  ;  it  came  to  Wanganui 
a  te  ra  (Port  Nicholson).  Kupe  went  back  to  Hawaiki.  The 
Nga  te  rua  nui  came  in  it. 

2.  Aotea. — Turi  was  its  chief;  it  brought  the  karaka,  which 
was  first  planted  at  Aotea,  the  kakaua  (kumara),  the  para 
tawiti,  or  yam.  The  name  is  now  given  to  an  edible  fern, 
the  former  being  lost.  The  pukeko,  kiore,  kakariki,  and  all 
plundering  birds  came  in  it;  also  the  Nga-ti-rua-nui,  Nga 
rauru,  Wanganui,  and  Ngatimaru.  This  canoe  is  also  called 
Aotea  roa. 

3.  Tainui. — Hoturoa  was  the  chief,  Waikato,  Nga  ti  Rau- 
kawa,  Nga  Puhi,  Nga  ti  Awa.  The  auurangi,  a  kind  of 
kumara,  came  in  it. 

4.  Arawa. — Nga  Toro  i  rangi  was  its  Ariki,  and  Tama  te 
ICapua  its  chief.  The  ancestors  of  the  Nga  ti  wakaue,  and 
the  Nga  ti  Porou  were  in  it.     This  was  a  double  canoe. 

5.  Kuru  aupo, — Ruatea  was  its  chief;  Nga  ti  A  pa,  Taranaki, 
Nga  ti  rua  nui,  Nga  ti  Kahungunu  were  in  it. 

6.  Orouta, — Uengapuanaki  was  the  chief;  Nga  ti  Rua-nui 
came  in  it. 

7.  Taki  tumu, — Tamatea-hua  tahi-nuku  roa,  was  the  chief; 
Nga  ti  Rua  nui. 

8.  Matatua. — Rua  auru  was  the  chief ;  Nga  ti  rua  nui,  Nga 
ti  Kahungunu.     The  taro  was  brought  in  this  canoe. 

9.  Pangatoru  (according  to  another  account  this  canoe  is 
called  Papakatoru). — Its  chief  was  Rakewananga  ora ;  Nga 
ti  rua  nui,  Nga  Rauru  came  in  it.  (Some  traditions  state  that 
this  canoe  did  not  land  its  men,  as  the  natives  opposed  their 
doing  so.) 

amongst  the  stamps  at  the  bottom  as  to  be  almost  torn  to  pieces,  bringing  up 
large  branches  of  trees  with  it.  The  greatest  depth  of  the  lake  was  found  to 
be  five  fathoms.  From  it  flows  a  river  over  a  ledge  of  rock,  to  the  west,  and 
falls  into  the  Hokianga.  This  ledge  is  doubtless  a  stream  of  lava,  which,  crossing 
the  lowest  part  of  the  plun,  stopped  its  drainage,  and  thus  formed  the  present 
lake,  which  might,  with  a  very  little  expense,  and  no  doubt  some  day  will,  be 
restored  to  what  it  must  have  been — one  of  the  most  fertile  plains  in  this  part 
of  the  island. 


124  ORIGINAL  CANOES. 

10.  Tokomaru. — (This  canoe  is  also  called  Tongamaru,) — 
Rakeora  was  the  chief;  Nga  ti  rua  nui,  Nga  ti  tama^  Nga 
ti  mutunga,  Nga  ti  awa. 

11.  Motumotuahi. — Puatantahi  was  the  chief ;  Nga  Rauru, 
Nga  ti  rua  nui  were  in  it. 

12.  Te  Mangi  ua  mutu. — Tamatea  rokai  was  the  chief ;  Nga 
ti  rua  nui.  It  came  to  Ranga  tapu.*  This  canoe  is  also  called 
Tairea. 

13.  Waka  ringa  ringa. — Mawakeroa  the  chief;  Nga  ti  rua 
nui.     It  came  to  Kaupoko  nui,  Nga  te  ko. 

Toto  was  the  name  of  the  person  who  made  the  first  canoe ; 
Mata  o  rua,  and  also  the  Aotea,  out  of  one  tree,  which  split 
in  two  parts  when  it  fell.  (This  was  considered  a  remarkable 
circumstance,  as  formerly,  having  no  iron  tools,  they  had  both 
to  burn  down  the  trees,  and  then  hollow  them  with  fire,  and 
thus  could  only  get  one  canoe  out  of  one  tree,  however  large 
it  might  be.) 

The  tuwhenua  or  main  land  was  united  to  Hawaiki  before 
Kupe  came;  he  cut  it  in  two,  and  made  the  sea  between. 
When  he  first  came  to  this  tuawhenua,  he  found  a  people 
there  called  Kahui  toka.  The  names  of  their  chiefs  were 
Kehu,  Rehu,  and  Monoa.  They  had  no  food  but  fern-root 
before  Kupe  found  them.  When  they  saw  his  canoe  come, 
they  were  dreadfully  alarmed.  Turi,  on  his  arrival,  killed 
them.  Taki  tumu  and  Orouta  are  different  names  for  the 
same  canoe  ;  according  to  some,  Tutaranaki  was  the  maker  of 
Auraro  tuia  and  Tane  a  rangi :  they  were  also  formed  of  a 
split  tree  The  former  was  Maui's  canoe.  These  two  appear 
to  be  distinct  ones ;  and  the  accounts  of  different  parts  of  the 
island  vary  as  to  the  names  of  some  and  the  number.  Alto- 
gether I  have  had  seventeen  names  thus  given,  but  not  by  the 
same  person. 

When  Kupe  went  back,  he  gave  such  a  glowing  account  of 
the  size,  beauty,  and  productions  of  Aotea  toa  (for  so  he  called 

*  On  their  arrival  at  that  place,  they  saw  stones  like  English  flints,  and  moa 
bones.  It  was  there  I  discovered  the  largest  quantity  of  the  bones  of  the 
dinornb  which  I  hare  seen.  The  flints,  I  haTo  no  doubt^  were  the  stones 
which  that  bird  used  to  swallow,  being  chiefly  quartz  pebbles. 


ORIQINAL   CANOES.  125 

New  Zealand),  that  a  fleet  of  six  canoes  was  immediately 
raised  to  go  and  take  possession  of  the  new  found  land.  Kupe 
is  fairly  entitled  to  be  viewed  as  the  New  Zealand  Columbus.* 
In  another  account,  Taha  tuna,  Tairea,  Rima  rapu,  Totara 
karia,  are  also  mentioDed,  With  all  these  little  discrepencies, 
when  we  find  the  majority  of  these  names  well  known  in  every 
part,  with  the  chiefs  who  commanded  them,  as  well  as  the 
ancestors  of  the  diflTerent  tribes  who  came  in  them,  we  have 
a  sure  proof  that  the  general  tradition  is  correct,  and  that  the 
natives  have  a  more  accurate  account  of  the  founders  of  their 
race  than  either  the  English  or  Spanish  have  of  theirs  in 
America,  although  one  is  more  remote  in  point  of  time  than 
the  other,  and  labouring  under  ihe  disadvantage  of  not  possess- 
ing a  written  language  to  preserve  the  memory  of  it,  when 
they  can  thus  give  the  names  of  all  the  canoes  which  brought 
their  ancestors,  the  names  of  those  in  them,  and  even  the  various 
things  they  brought. 

■  When  this  fleet  arrirvd,  the;  named  the  north  isUad  AoUa  roa,  and  the 
freat  Bamer  island  A«tea  iti. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WAKATAUKI,   OR   PROVERBS. 

Next  lo  traditions,  Proverbs  are  tlie  most  highly  esteemed  ; 
they  are  extremely  numerous,  and  are  used  on  all  occasions. 
The  following  are  a  few  as  examples : — 
1 .  He  pai  kni ;  c  kore  c  roa  tc  tiro  hanga ;  ka  pa  tau,  he  pai  tan- 

gfltft  c  roa  tc  tiro  hnnga. 
Tlic  pleasure  derived  frcioi  limking  at  good  food  is  short,  and  that 

of  looking  nt  a  good  man  in  long. 
'2.  Hararaiim  nui  a  mahi,  kei  rim  i  n  nuho. 

Let  industry  bo  rewarded,  lest  idleness  get  the  advantage. 


PR0VBRB8.  127 

3.  He  pai  tangata  ekore  e  reia ;  he  kino  wahine  ka  reia. 

Tjet  a  man  be  ever  bo  good  looking,  he  will  not  be  much  sought 
after ;  but  let  a  woman  be  ever  so  plain,  men  will  still  eagerly 
seek  after  her  (literally  run  off  with). 

4.  Ko  Waitaha  nga  tangata,  ko  kawe  ke  te  ngakau. 

The  men  truly  are  Waitaha  in  name,  but  their  hearts  are  any- 
thing and  everything  (Waitaha  was  once  a  tribe  celebrated 
for  number  and  courage). 

5.  He  kino  kai  e  kore,  e  rere  ki  te  pai  tangata,  he  pai  tangata  e 

rere,  ki  te  kino  kai. 
The  bad  quality  of  the  food  a  man  cats  will  not  affect  his  good 
qualities,  or  lower  him ;  but  his  good  qualities  will  raise  or 
sanctify  the  food. 

6.  Ka  ruku  ruku  a  huna,  ka  horahora  a  papaka  nui. 

He  who  has  a  thick  garment  fears  not  the  rain ;  but  he  who  has 
only  a  thin  one  flees  to  the  house  as  soon  as  it  begins. 

7.  Ea  waia  te  wahie  mo  takurua,  ka  mahia  to  kai  mo  tau. 

Fuel  is  only  sought  for  against  winter ;  but  food  is  cultivated 
for  the  whole  year. 

8.  Ma  pango,  ma  were  ka  oti. 

When  gentlemen  and  slaves  unite,  the  work  will  soon  be  done. 
(This  refers  to  the  custom  of  chief's  painting  themselves  with 
red  ochre  and  slaves  with  charcoal,  before  they  went  to  war.) 

9.  Ka  hia  nga  kui  kui  i  hoki  ki  toitoi. 

How  many  old  women  are  there  who  return  to  youth  ? — ^Toi  toi 
is  synonimous  with  the  English  word  toy,  or  expressive  of  the 
struggle  young  men  have  to  gain  their  wives. 

10.  He  kai  tangata  he  kai  titongi,  koke  mahia  e  tona  ringaringa,  tino 

kai  tino  makona. 
Whoever  trusts  to  another  man's  labor  for  his  food,  will  be  dis- 
appointed ;  but  he  who  labours  with  his  own  hands,  will  have 
enough  and  to  spare.     (The  titongi  is  a  tree  whose  fruit  is 
only  in  season  for  a  short  time.) 

1 1 .  Nau  i  waka  aua  te  kakahu,  he  taniko  taku. 

You  wove  the  garment,  I  put  a  border  to  it.  (A  proverb  used 
when  a  person  accuses  another  of  having  brought  any  evil  upon 
him,  of  which  in  reality  he  himself  was  the  cause.) 

12.  Tenei  ano  a  mutu,  kei  roto  i  tona  ware  punga  were  were. 

The  spider  is  not  seen  when  hid  in  his  web  j  so  the  real  inten- 
tion of  the  man  is  concealed  in  the  recess  of  his  heart. 


128  PROVERBS. 

13.  He  tonga  kakaho  i  kitea  c  te  kanohi  o  tc  tangata. 

The  slightest  movement  of  the  rood  waving  in  the  wind  is  per- 
ceived by  man's  eye,  but  not  that  of  the  heart. 

14.  Ka  mate  koe  i  to  paoa;  kahore,  he  kauta. 

You  will  be  stifled  with  smoke ;  no  (said  ironically),  it  is  a 
cooking  shed,  which  makes  all  the  difference. 

15.  Ma  tini  mano  ka  rapa  te  wai. 

A  great  number  will  easily  accomplish  what  a  few  cannot. 

16.  He  aha  mau  ma  tc  kotahi. 
What  can  a  single  person  do. 

17.  Ko  te  uri  o  pani. 

The  house  of  the  orphan. — ^A  saying  for  a  person  without  family 
or  friends,  who  has  no  power  or  influence. 

18.  Kotahi  te  ko\ira  a  wetaweta,  tutakina  te  hiku. 

Don't  divide  the  cray  fish,  give  it  whole  (a  little  thing).  Simi- 
lar to  our  saying,  Don't  make  two  bites  at  a  cherry. 

19.  Ka  mau  ta  Maui  ki  tona  ringaringa  e  kore  e  taea  te  rum. 
What  Maui  has  hold  of  he  will  not  give  up. — Wliat  is  given 

cannot  be  taken  away 

20.  Bere  i  te  omanga,  wai  marire. 

What  has  been  given  don't  seek  to  get  returned. 

21.  Ka  kotia  te  taitapu  ki  Hawaiki. 

The  road  to  Hawaiki  is  cut  oflf. — An  expression  used  by  a  des- 
perate character  who  braves  the  laws  and  usages  of  his  country. 
He  has  passed  the  Eubicon. 

22.  Ko  turanga  o  Potaka. 

Potaka  was  a  lazy  fellow,  who  hiid  in  bed  when  others  worked, 
and  got  up  to  work  when  they  were  coming  away. — ^A  saying 
for  a  lazy  man. 

23.  Ko  te  kai  rapu,  ko  ia  to  kifo. 
He  who  seeks  finds. 

24.  Ko  ia  kahoro  nei  i  rapu,  tc  kitea. 
He  who  does  not  seek  finds  not. 

25.  Ho  koura  kia  we  te  whero. 

Spoken  of  a  person  easily  overpowered. — It  does  not  l^tke  long 
to  turn  a  cray  fish  red  by  boiling.  Another  meaning,  an  aiigiy 
man  soon  turns  to  fight. 

26.  He  aruhe  kia  wo  tc  papa. 

Fern  root  is  soon  cooked. — Papa,  to  crack  or  burst  as  it  does 
when  sufficientlv  I'oastoil. 


PROVERBS.  129 

27.  Eo  te  koura  kei  te  upoko  te  tutae. 

The  Cray  fish  has  its  fandament  in  its  head. — ^Alluding  to  its  • 
color,  which  is  red :  though  he  is  smeared  with  ochre  like  a 
gentleman,  his  head  is  only  filled  with  filthiness. 

28.  He  kiore  pnkunia. 

The  rat  has  a  double  stomach. — ^A  saying  for  a  greedy  fellow 
who  is  never  satisfied. 

29.  He  pounamu  kakano  ma. 

A  lizard  of  two  colors,  spotted  or  changeable  as  a  chameleon. 

30.  Pihi  kau  ake  te  wakaaro  pai,  hauhake  tonu  iho. 

The  good  thought  springs  up  as  grass,  but  it  is  immediately  cut 
down. 

31.  Ka  tuhoa  te  ra,  ka  warara,  ka  hinga. 

The  sun  rises  to  its  zenith,  and  then  declines. — ^This  is  applied 
to  human  life. 

32.  Tena  te  kawenga,  a  te  ringa  kokoparahia. 

The  man  that  does  not  permit  the  weeds  (kokoparahia)  to  cover 
the  marae,  is  also  strong  enough  to  overcome  his  enemies. 

33.  Mokonahatia  te  waha  o  te  kuri  nei  ki  te  mokonaha,  kei  haere 

kei  tahae. 
The  dog's  mouth  is  muzzled,  lest  it  should  steal. 

34.  Mata  rere  puku,  rite  tonu  ki  te  makutu,  mata  rakau,  e  taea  te  karo. 
The  blow  from  a  bullet  like  a  curse  strikes  unseen,  and  cannot 

be  warded  off  as  that  of  a  wooden  weapon. 

35.  Ea  mate  ware  tahi,  ka  ora  ware  rua. 

Signifies  he  has  two  strings  to  his  bow. — ^A  person  who  possesses 
several  cultivations  is  safe,  though  one  should  fail,  the  others 
will  support  him. 
86.  Ko  te  kura  i  huna  ki  roto  ki  te  toto. 

A  saying  for  the  pigeon,  when  it  is  skinned  and  the  bones  taken 
out;  previously  to  its  being  put  into  the  toto,  or  basket,  the 
fiesh  is  quite  white. — ^This  is  applied  to  a  handsome  man, 
whether  for  the  eye  or  mouth  is  rather  doubtM. 

37.  I  kinitia  i  roto  i  te  matikuku  pango. 

It  was  pinched  within  the  end  of  the  finger  nail. — ^A  saying  for 
a  man  who  has  had  a  very  narrow  escape. 

38.  Ka  ki  te  piro  o  nga  manu,  o  nga  tangata  ka  kata. 
When  the  stomach  is  fuU,  the  birds  sing,  the  men  laugh. 

39.  He  kuku  ki  te  kainga,  he  kaka  ki  te  haere. 

A  man  who  is  of  no  consequence  at  home,  is  one  of  importance 
abroad. — ^Literally,  a  muscle  at  home — a  parrot  abroad. 

K 


130  FRO  VERBS. 

40.  Eo  to  iirL  0  Kapu  manawa  witi. 

A  saying  for  te  Eauparaha ;  no  one  know  his  thoughts,  whether 
they  were  for  good  or  evil. 

41.  Haere  te  amorangi  ki  mua,  te  hapaio  o  te  taua  ki  muri.   [after. 
In  the  procession,  the  priest  goes  before,  the  multitude  follows 

42.  Ko  Mam  kai  atu,  ko  Mam  kai  mai,  ka  ngohe  ngohe. 
Give  as  well  as  take,  and  all  wiU  be  well  (right). 

43.  Kaore  ana  he  au  ahi,  kapa  he  au  moana  e  mate. 

Smoke  (literally  wind)  from  the  fire  soon  passes  away,  but  wind 
from  the  sea  causes  destruction  to  the  canoe. 

44.  He  ropu  hau,  he  ropu  tangata. 

A  large  party  of  strangers  attracts  a  large  number  of  lookers  on. 

45.  E  kore  e  mahana,  he  iti-iti  o  te  pueru. 

There  is  no  warmth ;  the  garment  is  too  small. — ^A  saying  for  a 
small  war  party. 

46.  Kaore  ra  i  te  kakahu  roroa,  automai  i  raro  i  te  whenua. 
When  tho  garment  is  long  and  trails  along  the  groimd,  then, 

indeed,  there  is  warmth. — ^A  saying  for  a  great  war  party. 

47.  I  muia  Tinirau  i  mate  ai. 

Because  Tinirau  was  overpowered  by  numbers ;  he  was  killed. — 
This,  is  said  when  many  Ml  upon  and  kUl  a  single  man. 

48.  Xapo  rere  te  kuri. 

The  dog  snatches  his  food  frx>m  his  master's  hand,  and  runs 
away. — So  a  person  hears  what  you  have  to  say,  without 
intending  to  follow  it. 

49.  I  whoa  koe  i  te  tahuritanga  o  te  rau  o  te  Kotukutuku  ? 
Where  were  you  when  the  Fuschia  came  into  leaf,  that  you  did 

not  plant  food  ? — A  query  put  to  those  who  are  too  lazy  to 
cultivate  the  groimd.  This  is  nearly  the  only  deciduous  tree  of 
New  Zealand. 

50.  He  iti  hold  te  Mokoroa,  nana  i  kakati  te  Eahikatea. 

Small  and  insignificant  as  the  Mokoroa  (a  grub)  is,  yet  ho  cats 
the  Kahikatea.— Wo  should  not  despise  an  enemy,  however 
feeble  he  may  appear  to  be. — The  Kahikatea  (Podocarpu8 
exeeUusJ  is  the  loftiest  of  the  iN'cw  Zealand  pines. 

51.  E  hia  motunga  o  te  Weka  i  te  mahanga  ? 

How  often  does  the  Weka  escape  from  the  snare  ? — One  who  has 
had  a  very  narrow  escape,  will  take  care  not  to  fall  into  the 
same  danger  again. 

52.  Ho  Kotuku  rcrenga  tahi. 

A  Kotuku  whose  flight  is  seen  but  once. — Tho  Kotuku,  or  New 


PROVERBS.  131 

Zealand  Stork,  is  so  rare,  that  the  natiyes  say,  a  person  can 
only  expect  to  see  it  once  in  his  lifetime.     This  is  applied  to 
a  great  stranger. 
63.  Ka  pa  he  ra  e  hum  mai  ana ;  tena,  he  ra  e  heke  ana. 

If  it  was  a  sun  just  appearing,  well ;  but  it  is  a  sun  which  is 
setting. — ^When  an  old  man  is  very  ill,  there  is  little  hope ; 
but  there  is  with  youth,  that  ho  will  live  to  grow  up ;  with 
old  age,  the  day  wanes,  it  is  near  its  close. 

54.  He  iti,  he  iti  Kahikatoa. 

Though  small,  it  is  still  a  Kahikatoa. — ^A  man  should  hot  be 
despised  on  account  of  his  diminutive  size ;  for  he  may  be  like 
the  Kahikatoa  f Leptospermum  soopartumj,  which,  though  only 
a  small  tree,  is  remarkable  for  its  strength  and  toughness. 

55.  Ka  roa  te  ngaromanga,  he  iti  te  putanga. 

Though  long  hidden,  it  will  be  small  when  it  appears. — This 
applies  to  a  man  of  words,  but  not  of  deeds:  also  to  a 
war  party,  which,  when  largo,  is  confident  of  success,  and 
immediately  sets  out;  but,  when  small,  it  is  a  long  time 
hesitating. 

56.  He  ringa  miti  tai  heke. 

A  hand  which  licks  up  the  ebb  tide. — ^A  Wanganui  saying  for 
the  people  who  live  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  within  the 
influence  of  the  tides.  Being  accustomed  to  contend  with  the 
ebb  tide,  they  can  manage  their  canoes  better  than  the  natives 
of  the  interior. 

57.  Tino  kai,  tino  ora  te  kopu. 

By  a  constant  supply  of  food,  the  stomach  will  be  always  fiill. — 
A  man  may  indeed  eat  plentifully  at  a  feast  for  a  day  or  two ; 
but  he  who  has  the  produce  of  his  labour  stored  up,  will 
never  want. 

58.  Papaku  a  ringaringa,  hohonu  a  korokoro. 

The  hand  is  shallow,  but  the  throat  is  deep. — ^A  saying  for  a 
person  who  eats  a  great  deal,  but  is  too  lazy  to  work. 

59.  He  wahinc  ki  uta,  he  kahawai  ki  roto  ki  te  wai. 

A  woman  on  shore;  a  kahawai  in  the  sea. — The  kahawai  is 
a  fish  which  is  very  particular  in  selecting  the  hook  which 
most  resembles  its  food,  and  woman  is  the  most  difficult  to 
please  on  land ;  hence  the  saying,  ''  As  a  kahawai  selects  the 
hook  which  pleases  it  best  out  of  a  great  number,  so  also  a 
woman  chooses  one  man  out  of  many.'' 

k2 


132  PROVERBS. 

60.  Mata  kitea,  maoa,  riro  ke. 

When  raw  it  is  seen ;  when  cooked  it  is  taken  away. — ^A  saying 
used  when  persons  who  are  cooking  food  see  a  party  of  strangers 
approaching.  It  is  better  to  eat  the  food  only  haK  cooked, 
than  wait  and  have  to  divide  it  with  others. 

61.  Ka  ngaro  a  moa  te  iwi  nei. 

This  tribe  will  become  extinct  like  the  moa. — ^The  moa,  or 
dinomisy  was  a  very  large  bird,  which  is  now  supposed  to  be 
extinct,  the  bones  only  having  been  discovered.  It  would  be 
thus  with  the  tribe  alluded  to ;  the  people  would  all  die,  and 
their  skeletons  only  would  remain  to  show  that  they  had  been. 

62.  He  titi  rere  ao,  ka  kitea ;  he  titi  rcro  po,  e  kore  e  kitea. 

The  "titi"  which  flies  in  the  day  time  is  seen ;  but  the  "  titi " 
which  flies  in  the  night  is  not. — ^Used  when  a  stranger  arrives 
at  a  village  in  the  night.  Being  unseen,  he  is  not  welcomed 
till  he  gets  into  the  pa.  The  titi  is  a  sea  bird  which  goes 
inland  at  night. 

63.  Ki  te  hamama  popoia  te  tangata,  e  kore  e  mau  te  ika. 

If  a  man  yawns  whilst  fishing,  he  will  be  unsuccessftd. — ^A 
saying  which  is  applied  to  a  person  who  has  not  perseverance 
enough  to  finish  what  he  has  begun.  If  he  gets  tired  of  it, 
it  will  never  be  completed. 

64.  E  kore  c  taka  te  parapara  a  ona  tupima,  tukua  iho  ki  a  ia. 

He  cannot  lose  the  spirit  of  his  ancestors ;  it  must  descend  to 
him. — ^This  saying  is,  perhaps,  identical  with  ours,  "  A  chip 
of  the  old  block." 

65.  Ka  tangi  te  karewarewa  ki  waenga  o  to  rangi  pai,  ka  ua  apopo ; 

ka  tangi  ki  waenga  o  te  rangi  ua,  ka  paki  apopo. 
If  the  sparrow-hawk  screams  on  a  fine  day,  it  will  rain  on  the 
morrow ;  if  it  screams  on  a  rainy  day,  it  will  be  fine  on  the 
morrow. 

66.  I  hea  koe  i  te  tangihanga,  o  te  riroriro  ? 

Where  were  you  when  the  riroriro  first  sung  ? — ^The  riroriro  is 
a  small  bird  whose  note  is  heard  in  the  spring,  and  is  one  of 
the  signs  of  approaching  summer.  This  saying  is  applied 
to  a  person  who  is  too  idle  to  plant  food  at  the  proper  season, 
and  complains  of  himger  in  the  winter. 

67.  Haere  ki  Patiarero. 

Go  to  Patiarero. — ^A  Wanganui  saying,  Go,  that  they  may  eat 
you.  This  is  said  when  anyone  is  bent  upon  running  into  danger. 


PROVERBS.  133 

68.  He  kokonga  ware  e  taea  te  rapurapn;  he  kokonga  ngakau  ekore 

e  taea. 
We  can  thoroughly  search  every  comer  of  a  house ;  hut  the 
comer  of  a  heart  we  cannot. 

69.  He  kai  koutou  ka  hohoro,  ko  to  ngaki  ekore. 
You  are  forward  to  eat,  hut  not  to  work. 

70.  Te  wai  tokihi  rangi. 

The  water  which  was  hrought  from  heaven. — This  was  the  name 
given  hy  the  natives  to  rum,  when  Captain  Cook  first  gave  it 
to  them.     It  is  now  used  for  anything  sweet. 

71.  Kia  wakaara  koe  i  taku  moe,  ko  te  watu  turei  a  Rua. 

When  you  disturh  my  rest,  let  it  he  for  the  Hinau  hread  of 
Rua.— *1lua  was  one  of  the  first  persons  who  arrived  in  New 
Zealand,  and  commenced  making  hread  from  the  Hinau  (Elcto- 
carpus  Hinau  J,  which  has  therefore  heen  named  after  him.  It 
is  so  highly  prized  hy  the  natives,  that  they  say  it  is  the  only 
food  for  which  a  wearied  man  should  he  waked  out  of  his  sleep. 

72.  He  pata  ua  ki  runga,  he  ngutu  tangata  ki  rare. 

Drops  of  rain  above,  and  men's  lips  below. — This  is  applied  to  a 
man  who  is  beset  on  all  sides  with  annoyances,  and  can  find 
no  way  of  escape. 

73.  E  kore  e  kitea  te  tui  i  nga  toke  i  te  pouri. 

It  is  too  dark  to  see  how  to  thread  worms. — ^This  is  said  when 
it  is  time  to  leave  off  work,  and  refers  to  the  custom  of  thread- 
ing worms,  as  a  bait  for  eels. 

74.  Tena  te  ringa  tango  parahia. 

That  is  a  hand  which  roots  out  the  parahia.— This  saying  is 
applied  to  a  diligent  husbandman  The  parahia  is  a  diminutive 
kind  of  spinach,  which  overruns  their  cultivations. 

75.  Ngahuru  ki  runga,  ngahuru  ki  raro ;  ma  te  paroparo  e  aki. 
There  are  ten  teeth  above,  and  ten  below ;  let  tiie  weight  of  the 

skull  bring  them  together. — ^When  food  is  only  half  cooked,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  use  more  force  in  chewing  it. 

76.  E  moe  ana  te  mata  hi  tuna,  o  ara  ana  te  mata  hi  aua. 

When  the  eyes  of  those  who  fish  for  eels  are  closed,  the  eyes  of 
those  who  fish  for  the  aua  are  open. — Some  persons  sleep  during 
siege,  while  others  are  watching ;  they  who  keep  awake  pre- 
vent the  pa  from  being  surprised  by  the  enemy. 

77.  Tama  tu,  tama  ora ;  tama  noho,  tama  mate  kai. 

The  man  who  gets  up  to  work  will  be  satisfied ;  but  he  who  sits 
idle  will  want  food. 


134  FABLES. 

78.  Tu  ke  raumati,  wakapiri  ngahuru. 

You  keep  at  a  distance  in  summer,  but  stick  close  in  harvest. — 
This  is  used  for  a  lazy  fellow,  who  runs  away  during  the  work- 
ing season,  and  does  not  return  till  the  crops  are  dug  up. 

79.  Me  te  tarakihi  e  papa  ana  i  te  warn. 

Like  locusts  chirping  in  the  eighth  month,  or  spring. — A  saying 
when  there  is  much  food,  there  is  also  much  talking. 

80.  He  urunga  ekore  e  wakaarahia  hau  kino. 

A  pillow  that  is  not  raised  by  a  tempcst.-^This  saying  is  applied 
to  the  top  of  Tongariro,  which  is  so  lofty  and  difficult  of  access, 
that  whoever  takes  refuge  there  is  safe  from  his  enemies. 

81.  Ekore  e  hohoro  te  opeope  o  te  otaota. 

The  weeds  will  not  be  soon  eradicated. — Applied  to  a  large  war 
party,  which  will  not  be  easily  vanquished. 

82.  Haere  e  wai  i  te  waewae  o  TJenuku,  kia  ora  ai  te  tangata. 

By  going  to  the  feet  of  TJenuku,  a  man's  life  may  be  saved. — 
TJenuku  was  famed  for  his  wisdom ;  therefore,  to  sit  at  his 
feet  implied  to  learn  wisdom,  by  which  a  man  might  be  able 
to  preserve  his  life  in  the  midst  of  danger. 

83.  Ehara  te  urunga  tangata,  he  urunga  panekcncke. 

It  is  not  good  to  lean  upon  a  man,  for  he  is  a  moving  bolster. 

84.  E  hara  te  toa  taua,  he  toa  pahekehcke  ?     Ko  to  toa  ngaki  kai 

ekore  e  paheke. 
What  does  it  benefit  a  man,  if  he  is  bravo  in  war,  for  it  is  an 
uncertaiii  thing.     But  a  man  who  is  brave,  or  diligent,  in 
tilling  the  ground  shall  be  certain  of  his  reward. 

85.  Kohia  te  kai  rangatira,  ruia  ta  taitea. 
Gather  the  best  food,  throw  the  worst  away. 

The  follouring  are  a  few  specimens  of  He  Korero  Tara,  or 
Native  Fables : — 

1. 

JTumora. — ^Mataharuharu ;  no-  Kumara, — Sitting  long  by  the 
hoanga  roa  i  te  ahi  te  ahi ;  roke  fire ;  face  wet  with  tears ;  large 
nui.  lump. 

Hoi, — ^Ahakoa  ra  au  kino,  ka-  Boi. — Though  I  am  bad,  take 
wea  au  ki  te  wai ;  raupitia ;  taka  me  to  the  water ;  press  me ;  let 
mai  te  muri-tai  e  taka  ra.  the  sea  breeze  come,  how  sweet ! 

Formerly  fern-root  was  nearly  the  sole  food  of  the  natives  during 
the  winter  months.    It  was  beaten  in  doors,  on  account  of  the  con- 


FABLES.  135 

stant  rain,  and  their  houses  being  always  filled  with  smoke,  the  eyes 
were  as  constantly  suffused  with  tears. 

This  seems  to  be  uttered  by  way  of  reproach,  the  fern-root  being  an 
unsightly  lump;  but,  when  properly  prepared,  it  is  not  at  all 
unpalatable. 

The  moral  of  the  fable  appears  to  be,  that,  although  the  Kumara 
be  more  palatable,  yet  it  is  neither  so  abundant,  nor  does  it  last  so 
long,  as  the  fem-root,  which  is  always  in  season. 

2. 
Kuniara  and  Roi 
Kumara, — ^Mataharuharu ;  no-         Kumara, — ^Watery  face,  long 
hoanga  roa  ki  te  ahi.  squatter  by  the  fire. 

Roi. — He  kai  tahau  (tau) ;  he  Bx>i, — You  are  much  food ;  my 
roa  tau  tahaku  (taku) ;  kawca  au  year  is  long;  take  me  to  the  water; 
ki  te  wai ;  rau  Piu  rawa ;  taka  roU  me  up  in  Piu  leaves ;  fetch 
takamaitemuri-tai,  etakaraau.     things  &om  the  sea  (shellfish); 

then  I  am  good. 
This  appears  to  be  a  different  version  of  the  former. 

3. 
Tuna  (the  eel)  and  Wapuku  (cod-fish). 
Wapuku. — Tehea  tau  wahi  mo-         Wapuhu, — ^Which  is  your  best 
mona  ?  part  ? 

Tuna, — Momona  ake  i  taku  Tuna, — ^I  am  good  from  my 
hiku,  a  taku  tongahau ;  a'ka  eke  tail  to  my  middle ;  and  if  you 
ki  runga  ki  a  Tumatua,  ka  noho  get  to  the  top  of  Tumatua,  you 
tau  tokorua.     Tehea  tau  ?  can  sit  two  together.     Which  is 

your  good  part  ? 
Wapuku, — Momona  a   hiku,         Wapuku. — I  am  good  in  my 
momona  a  tara ;  ka  kake  i  te  ka-     tail,  and  good  in  my  fins :  if  you 
kenga  i  a  Tumatua  ka  nohonoho    get  to  the  top  of  Tumatua,  you 
tau  tokorua.  may  sit  two  together. 

The  Wapuku  again  asks  the  Tuna  which  is  its  fattest  part.  The 
Tuna  looks  significantly  at  its  tail,  and  refers  the  question  back  to 
the  Wapuku,  who,  in  his  turn,  opens  his  eyes  wide,  signifying  that 
his  head  was  the  fattest  part  of  his  body. 

4. 
Tuatara  (the  Guana)  and  Kumukumu  (rock-cod). 

Tu4itara. — ^E  te  Kumukumu,  Tuatara, — Kumukumu,  let  us 
ka  haere  taua  ki  uta.  go  inland. 


136 


FABLES. 


JETumukumu. — Kahoro;  haerc 
koe  ki  uta. 

Tuatara, — E,  haere  mai,  ka 
pau  koe  i  te  tangata. 

Kumuhumu. — Kahore  ;  ekore 
au  e  pau  :  ko  koe  anake  to  pau. 

Taatara. — ^E  kore  au  e  pau. 
Tutu  aku  tara ;  rarau  aku  peke ; 
mataku  te  tangata,  oma  ki  ta- 
witi 


Kumnkumu, — ^No ;  go  yoTirself. 

TtMtara. — Come,  lest  you  be 
destroyed  by  man. 

Ktimuhumu. — No ;  I  shall  not 
be  destroyed :  it  is  you  that  men 
will  destroy. 

7\Mtara, — ^I  shall  not  be  des- 
troyed. I  will  set  up  my  spines ;  I 
will  stick  out  my  claws :  it  is  man 
that  will  be  afraid,  and  run  away. 


5. 
Kauri  (pine  tree)  and  Tohora  (whale). 


Tohara, — ^E  te  Kauri,  haere 
mai  taua  ki  tai  nei. 

Kauri, — ^Teka  ra.  Ko  konei 
ra  au  ko  taku  wahi. 

Tohora, — Taua  ra  ka  hoko  kiri : 
meake  koe  tuakina  e  te  tangata, 
a  ka  haua  koe  hci  waka. 


Tohara, — Kauri  come  to  sea 
with  me. 

Kauri, — ^No,  I  prefer  my  own 
element. 

Tohora. — Then  let  us  change 
skins ;  for  you  arc  in  danger  of 
being  cut  down  by  man,  and  made 


into  a  canoe. 
They  accordingly  exchanged  skins.     This  is  the  reason  assigned 
for  the  bark  of  the  kauri  being  so  thin  and  full  of  resin,  as  the 
whale  is  of  oil. 

6. 
Te  Tuatini  (a  fish)  and  Ngarara  (lizard). 
Ka  mea  atu  te  Tuatini  ki  te        The  Tuatini  said  to  the  Nga- 
Ngarara,  Haere  mai  taua  ki  roto     rara,  Come,  let  us  go  together  into 


ki  te  wai.  Ka  mea  atu  te  Nga- 
lara  kahore,  Ka  mea  atu  te  Tua- 
tini, Akuanei  au  ka  wakarongo 
mai  ki  a  koe  e  murumuru  ana  ki 
te  ahi  rarauhe.  Ka  mea  atu  hoki 
te  Ngarara,  Apopo  hoki  au  waka- 
rongo rawa  atu  ki  a  koe  e  kuru- 
kuruaana  koe  ki  tepapa  o  te  waka. 


the  sea.  But  the  Ngarara  said. 
No.  The  Tuatini  retorted,  I  shall 
hear  you  before  long  in  the  flames 
of  the  blazing  fern.  The  Nga- 
rara  answered  him  again.  And  to- 
morrow when  I  listen,  I  shall 
hear  you  dashed  against  the  side 
of  the  canoe. 


This  is  spoken  ironically.  The  Tuatini  tells  the  Ngarara,  Soon 
you  will  wish  you  had  listened  to  me,  when  you  are  being  consumed 
in  the  blazing  fern ;  and  the  Ngarara  replies,  You  will  soon  wish 
that  you  had  taken  my  advice,  when  you  are  caught  by  the  fisherman 
and  killed  against  the  side  of  his  canoe. 


Store  fRat)  and  Povwkailere  fOreen  Parrot.) 


Pouwbaitere. — E  kio 

taua  ki  nmga. 
Kwre. — Ki  tc  aha  taua  i  ruuga  ? 
PouwhaiUre. — Ki  te  koi  pua  ra- 

Kiore. — £  aha  te  pua  rakau  i 
PmwhaiUre. — He  mlro,  he  kahi- 

Kiore. — E  lama 


ka  piki     Pouwhiiter*. — 0 kio  (short  for  rat) 
let  UB  climh  up  into  the  ti:«e. 
Kiore. — ^What  eball  we  do  there  ? 
Pouwhatere. — Eat  the  fruit  of  the 


— e  haere  mai  nei  te  taugata, 
ronaiona  nei  i  te  kaki  terete  t 
wai  au,  ti  mau  rawa. 

Moral — ^No  escs] 
TheAuU 
— Hei  kona  koe,  tu  ai  hi 


whw. 


parepare. 
Ante. — Haere  koe  ki  te  moana  hei 
whau  kupcnga,  ka  mutu  hei 

pouto  kupeuga. 


f«M.— What  kind  of  fruits  ? 
PotMhaitere. — That  of  the  miro 
and  kahikatea. 
kote  vaka    Eiore. — Uy  Mend,  both  our  tribes 
ama  ra—e         are   diminishing ;  man  comes 
and  twists  your  neck,    torete 
te  wai   (the  Huitetion  of  the 
bird's  cry  of  pain,)  and  as  for 
me,  I  shall  be  caught  in  bin 

from  man's  power. 
dtkt  Whau. 
Whau. — ^Here  you  arc  decking  a 

woman's  head. 
AuU. — Go  you  to  sea  to  make  the 
net  fioat,  and  when  the  fishing  is 
over  remain  attached  to  it. 


The  Whau  fEnteUa  arbore»een»J,  a  light  wood  used  instead  of  cork. 
Ante,  the  inner  bark  of  the  Eohtria  populnea,  used  as  ribbon. 
Moral — One  office  or  business  is  as  good  as  another. 


CHAPTER    X. 


Many  of  their  Songs,  which  arc  extremely  numerous,  contain 
very  beautiful  ideas.  The  metre  is  difficult  to  describe;  there 
being  no  regular  measure  of  verse.  The  chief  object  is  to 
make  the  lines  suit  their  tunes,  which  a  musical  gentleman 
described  as  reminding  him  of  the  Gregorian  chants.  • 

They  have  songs  on  every  subject,  on  love  and  war,  as  well 
as  incantations,  laments,  and  traditions,  and  no  man  would  be 
esteemed  an  eloquent  orator  if  he  could  not  introduce  several 
quotations  from  them,  containing  allusions  applicable  to  the 
subject  on  which  he  is  speaking.  In  addition  to  these  there  are 
numerous  nursery  and  boat  songs.  The  deeds  of  their  warriors 
are  thus  handed  down. 

*  See  page  27. 


ITINERARY   AND  TRADITION  SONO. 


139 


Ko  tepopo  a  TeRangitakoru  mo  tana 

tamahine,  mo  IFharawrangi. 
E  hine  aku,  ki  to  kunenga  mai  i 

tawiti, 
Ei  te  whakaringaringa,  ki  te  wha- 

kawaewae, 
Tc  wakakanobi-tanga,  ka  manu, 

e  hine,  te  waka  i  a  Ruatea, 
Ko  Eurahaupo,  ka  iri  mai  taua, 

i  ninga  i  Aotea  ko  te  waka  ia 

Turi, 
Eau  mai  taua  te  ngutu  whenua 

kora, 
Hanga  iho  te  whare  Eangitawi ; 

Tiria  mai  te  kumara, 

Ka  riiia  mai  te  karaka  ki  te  taiao 

nei; 
Karia  iho  te  pou  tamawahinei, 
Ka  waiho  i  Nga  tua  hine,  i  a 

Nonoko-uri, 
I  a  N*onoko-tea,  ko  te  Hererunga, 

ko  te  Korohunga. 
Kapua  mai  e  Hau  ko  te  one  ki  te 

ringa, 
Ko  te  tokotoko.   Ka  witi  i  te  awa, 
Ka  nni  ia,  ko  Wanga-nui ; 

Tiehutia  te  wai,  ko  Wangae-hu ; 

Ka  hinga  te  rakau,  ko  Turakina ; 
Tikeitia  te  waewae,  ko  Tikei ; 

Ka  tatUy  e  hine,  ko  Manawatu ; 

Ka  rorohio  nga  taringa,  ko  Hokio; 

Waiho  te  awa  iti  hei  ingoa  mona 

ki  Ohau ; 
Takina  te  tokotoko,  ko  Otaki ; 


Te  Rangitakoru^s  nursery  song  for 

his  daughter y  for  Wharaurangi. 

0,  my  daughter,  when  you  came 

from  afar, 
And  your  hands  were  formed,  and 

your  feet. 
And  your  face,   you  floated,  0 

daughter, 
IntheKurahaupo,  Ruatea's  canoe, 
When  you  embarked  in  the  Aotea, 

the  canoe  of  Turi, 
You  forded  the  whenua  kura  at 

its  mouth, 
Thence  was  made  the  house  of 

Eangitawi; 
Let  us  plant  the  kumara. 
And  sow  the  karaka,  in  the  land 

bordering  the  sea ; 
Sink  deep  the  post. 
Leave  it  for  Nga  tua  bine,  from 

Nonoko-uri, 
From  Nonoko-tea,  the  Hererunga 

and  Korobimga. 
Hau  took  up  some  sand  in  the 

palm  of  his  hand,  and  his  staff. 
When  he  crossed  over  the  river, 
Finding  it  was  wide  he  called  it 

Wanga-nui ; 
Splash  the  water,  that  will  reach 

Wangae-hu ;  [kina ; 

The  length  of  a  fallen  tree,  is  Tura- 
Having  many  times  lifted  up  bis 

feet,  Tikei ; 
When  bis  heart  sank  within  him, 

Manawatu ; 
When  the  wind  whistled  past  his 

cars,  Hokio; 
The  small  river  he  called,  Ohau  J 

When  he  carried  bis  staff  in  a 
horizontal  position,  Otaki ; 


140  mXBRARY   AND  TRADmON   SONG. 

Kamehameha,ehine,koWai-mea;    When  he  prayed,  0  daughter,  it 

was  Wai-mea ; 
Ka  ngahao  nga  pi,  ko  Wai-kanae ;     When  he  looked  out  of  the  comer 

of  his  eye,  Wai-kanae ; 
Ka  tangi  ko  to  mapu,  e  hine.  When    ho    became    weary,    my 

Ka  kite  koe  i  a  Wai-raka :  daughter,  he  reached  Wai-raka- 

Matapoutia ;  poua  ki  runga,  poua    He  repeated  an  incantation, 

ki  raro.  She  became  fixed  above,  and  fixed 

Ka  rarau,  e  hine.    Ka  rarapa  nga        below, 

kanohi.  And  she  remained  immovable. 

Ko  Wai-rarapa  — te  rarapatanga    My    daughter,    when    his    eyes 

o  to  tupuna,  glistened  with  delight, 

E  hine  — ^ka  moiki  te  ao.  He  called  the  place  Wai-rarapa, 

It  was  the  rejoicing  of  your  an- 
cestors, my  daughter. 
The  sky  became  cloudless, 
Ko  te  pai  a  Waitiri ;  On  account  of  Waitings  good  will. 

Kumca  kia  warca  Kaitangata  She  then  enticed  Kaitangata  out 

Ki  waho  ki  te  moana :  to  sea : 

Hanga  te  paepae,  poua  iho,  te  pou    She  placed  the  plank  across, 
Whakamaro  te  rangi,  ko  Mere-    And  drove  in  a  post  to  hold  on  by, 

mere :  called  Meromcre. 

Waiho  te  Whanau,  ko  te  punga      She  left  to  her  offspring,  Funga, 

the  anchor  of  his  canoe, 
0  tona  waka  ko  te  Awhema.  As  his  name,  Awhema.  [ter. 

Kati,  ka  waka  mutu,  e  hine.  Enough,  it  is  finished,  0  my  daugh- 

Hau  came  in  one  of  the  canoes  above  mentioned.  The 
cause  of  the  journey  he  undertook  was  to  look  for  Wai-raka^ 
his  wife^  who  had  eloped  with  a  man  named  Weku.  Upon 
reaching  the  first  river,  he  named  it,  from  its  great  width, 
Wanga-nui  (the  great  mouth).  Passing  on  to  the  next  river, 
he  describes  it  as  being  so  near  that  he  could  splash  the  water 
of  the  Wanga-nui  as  far,  and,  therefore,  named  it  Wanga-ehu 
(the  splashed  mouth),  from  tiheu,  which  signifies  to  splash,  or 
bale  water.  The  next  was  so  near,  that  if  he  felled  a  tree 
growing  on  the  banks  of  the  Wanga-ehu,  the  head  of  it  would 
reach  the  river  which  he  called  Tura-kina  (felled),  from  turaki, 
to  throw  down.  Having  to  walk  a  considerable  distance  to 
the  next  river,  he  called  it  Tikei  (a  pace),  from  Hkei,  the 


80NGS.  141 

action  of  the  legs  in  walking;  it  is  now  called  Rangitikei. 
Passing  on,  he  came  to  a  large  river^  which  he  feared  he  should 
not  be  able  to  cross ;  this,  therefore,  he  named  Manawa-tu, 
(the  depressed  spirit).  As  he  proceeded  on  his  way,  the  wind 
whistled  past  his  ears,  and  he  called  the  place  where  he  was  at 
the  time  Hokio.  The  next  small  creek  he  called  Ohau,  per- 
haps after  himself.  He  now  carried  his  staff  in  a  horizontal 
position ;  the  next  river  was,  therefore,  called  Otaki,  from 
taki,  to  level  a  spear  when  making  a  charge.  When  he 
strengthened  himself  by  praying  and  repeating  karakia,  he 
called  the  place  W^i-mea,  from  mehameha,  to  make  sacred. 
At  the  next  river  he  looked  out  slyly  from  the  corner  of  his 
eye  to  see  if  he  could  discover  bis  wife,  and  called  the  place 
Waikanae.  He  breathed  hard  when  he  reached  the  place, 
where  Wairaka  was  sitting  with  her  paramour,  at  Te  Paripari, 
the  termination  of  the  Tararua  range.  He  said  to  her,  "  Wai- 
raka, I  am  exceedingly  thirsty ;  fetch  me  some  water."  She 
got  up  and  walked  down  to  the  sea  with  a  calabash  in  each 
hand.  When  she  was  up  to  her  knees,  she  commenced  filling 
them.  He  called  to  her  to  go  further ;  she  went  in  up  to  her 
waist ;  he  bid  her  go  still  deeper,  and  she  went  on  again  till 
the  water  nearly  covered  her  shoulders.  He  then  repeated  a 
karakia ;  she  became  petrified,  and  has  remained  so  ever  since. 
Leaving  her  there,  a  rock  in  the  sea,  still  bearing  her  name, 
he  joyfully  went  on  his  way,  and  called  the  next  place  Wai- 
rarapa  (the  river  of  joyfulness),  from  rarapa,  the  glistening  of 
the  eyes  with  delight.  The  poet  then  informs  his  daughter 
that  it  was  the  rejoicing  of  her  ancestor. 

A  reference  is  here  made  to  the  myth  of  Waitirfs  erection 
of  a  temple  of  Cloacina,  which  is  a  chief  Maori  constellation. 
**  Hanga  te  paepae  "  means,  literally,  to  form  a  barrier,  but 
is  here  a  large  plank,  for  which  the  stake  called  meremere* 
was  also  reqiured.  This  and  the  remainder  forms  a  portion 
of  the  myth  of  Tawaki. 

The  song  is  a  very  interesting  one  as  it  gives  the  origin  of 
the  name  of  every  place  from  Wanganui  to  Wairarapa.  In 
another  version,  it  is  attributed  to  Turi,  and  begins  at  Patea. 

*  Meremere,  the  evening  star. 


142 


SONGS. 


He  Waiata  Aroha, 
A  love  song,  composed  by  a  young  woman  of  the  Nga-ti- 

kahunnnui  tribe. 


Mapunapuna  ai. 

He  wai  kei  aku  kamo ; 

Noho  mai  i  roto  na, 

Kei  korerotia  nahaku  tonu  koe. 

Kei  ringa  mau,  e ! 

Mo  te  Maunu  ra, 

E  kai  nei  i  an. 

Me  tangi  atu  au, 

E  hika,  ki  a  koe, 

Te  tangi  a  Tinirau, 

Ki  tana  mokai,  kia  Tutunui, 

Ka  mate  i  a  Ngac. 

Na! 


The  tears  gush  jfrom  my  eyes, 
My  eyelashes  are  wet  with  tears ; 
But  stay  my  tears  within, 
Lost  you  should  be  called  mine. 
Alas !  I  am  betrothed  (literally,  my 

hands  are  bound). 
It  is  for  te  Maunu, 
That  my  love  devours  me. 
But  I  may  weep  indeed, 
Beloved  one,  for  thee. 
Like  Tinirau' s  lament 
For  his  favorite  pet,  Tutunm, 
Which  was  slain  by  Ngae. 
Alas! 

He  Waiata  Aroha. 

A  song,  composed  by  a  person  whose  friend  had  been  taken  prisoner 

by  Hongi  Hika,  at  the  River  Thames,  in  1823. 


Takotomai  te  marine, 
Horahia  i  waho  na ; 
Hei  paki  omanga 
Mo  Waowaotupuni. 
Noku  te  wareware, 
Te  wai  rangi  au 
Te  hukanga  wai  hoe, 
Nau,  e  Ahurei ! 
Kai  tonu  ki  te  rae, 
Ki  Kohirae ; 
Marama  to  titiro 
Te  puia  i  Wakaari. 
Kei  te  ruru  tonu  mai, 
Ka  wehe  te  marine ! 
Hei  kawe  i  a  koe 
Te  pou  0  te  kupcnga. 
Na  Taramainuku, 
Kowai  au  ka  kite. 
Kurehu  ai  te  titiro. 


Smooth  is  the  sea. 

Spread  out  in  open  space ; 

Fair  and  clear 

For  Waowaotupuni  to  run. 

The  forgetMness  is  mine. 

That  I  do  not  follow 

In  the  splash  of  the  oar. 

Of  thee,  0  Ahurei ! 

With  the  eye  to  the  point, 

Even  to  Kohirae ; 

From  whence  can  be  seen 

The  steam  on  Wakaari.* 

How  fine  and  how  calm. 

How  smooth  and  how  fair ! 

To  carry  you 

To  the  post  of  the  net. 

Of  Taramainuku, 

A  stranger  to  me. 

The  sight  has  become  dim. 


*  White  Island,  in  the  Bay  of  Plenty^  a  smoking  crater. 


SONGS.  143 

Ki  Moehau  raia.  By  looking  at  Moehau. 

Me  kawe  rawa  ra,  He  is  taken  to  extreme  distance, 

Hei  hoko  paora ;  To  buy  powder ; 

Ki  tawiti  riro  ra,  Yea,  to  extreme  distance, 

Ki  te  ketunga  rimu.  From    whence    the   sea-weed    is 

broken  up. 

He  Waiata  Aroha. 

A  love  song. 

E  to  e  te  ra !  rehu  ki  te  rua,  0  set  thou  sun !    sink  into   thy 

cavern, 
Eingiringi  a  wai,  te  roimata  i    Thou  causest  to  gush  like  water 

aku  kamo.  the  tears  from  my  eyes. 

He  mea  mahue  au  te  hikoinga    I  am  a  deserted  one  through  the 

wad,  stepping  out  of  the  feet, 

Nou,  e  Taratiu,  wakangaro  atu     Of  thee,  Taratiu,  long  hidden  from 

ana.  my  sight. 

Nga  kurae  koe,  o  Waiohipara,     Thy  distant  hiUs,  Waiohipara,  and 

wakaahu  ahi  ana  te  tara  ki        the  flowing  surface  of  the  water, 

miti  tai.  appear  bright  like  a  Are. 

Kei  rare  taku  atua  e  aroha  nei  au.     My  idol,  whom  I  love,  is  below. 
Kati  te  wairua  te  mahi  te  hara-     Let  thy  spirit  cease  from  visiting 

mai ;  .  me ; 

Ka  mutu  iaranei  te  rangikane-     If,  perchance,  I  may  forget  my 

tanga.  sorrowing. 

Te  Tangi  a  te  Rangiwahawrua. 

Te  Rangiwakaurua^ s  Lament, 
Nei  ka  noho  i  te  po  roa  o  Matiti.     Here  I  sit  through  summer's  long 

night. 
Mokohiti  noa  te  tau  o  taku  ate.     My  heart  is  always  beating  for  my 

beloved. 
Nuku  mai,  e  hine,  kia  piri  mai     Come  near  me,  my  daughter,  and 

koe ;  keep  by  my  side ; 

Wakarukeruke  noa  i  runga  i  aku     Thou  art  ever  restless  when  I  nurse 

ringa.  thee. 

Kia  marama  au,  me  titiro  ki  uta.     Obstruct  not  my  vision  while  gaz- 
ing inland 
Ei  te  waka  tuku  mai,  ki  te  ao    At  the  approaching  canoe  and  the 

rere  mai.  cloud  drawing  near. 

Paneke  ake  ana  te  tara  ki  Hau-     Its  edge,  as  it  rises,   approaches 
mapu.  Haumapu. 


144  SONGS. 

Ko  0  tipima  i  ora,  i  hoki  mai  ki    Thy  ancestors  lived  and  remained 

au ;  with  me ; 

Ka  ruia  ratou  ki  raro  ki  Paerau.     But  they  are  driven  downwards  to 

Paerau.* 
£  Toko  ma,  e !  nau  mai  ki  konei :     0  Toko  and  thy  party  welcome  me : 
Ka  pnhangarua  au,  nga  toro  a    I  am  afflicted  with  a  disease  from 

tawiti.  afar. 

He  maka  wiu  au  kia  turakina  atu   I  must  haste  to  hew  down 
Nga  uru  rakau  ki  Tahoraparoa ;     The  thicket  of  spears  at  Tahora- 

paroa ; 
Kia  mauru  ake  ai  te  aroha,  That  my  spirits  may  be  soothed, 

I  au  ki  taku  wenua.  Which  are  excited  for  my  land. 

The  natives  consider  their  lands  as  their  ancestors,  because 
they  always  remain  in  the  family.  Though  the  original  pos- 
sessors have  passed  away,  the  lands  are  still  the  same,  and 
descend  from  the  fathers  to  their  children.  Te  Rangiwaka- 
urua*s  possessions  had  been  overrun  by  the  Ngatimaru,  who 
had  burned  his  forests  and  destroyed  his  property.  He  there- 
fore, informs  his  daughter,  Te  Oiroa,  that  though  he  belonged 
to  her  ancestors,  they  were  now  destroyed  and  sent  down  to 
Paerau,*  one  of  the  abodes  of  departed  spirits. 

The  words  "  nga  uru  rakau  "  means  literally  a  thicket  of 
trees,  though  used  here  for  a  thicket  of  spears,  in  allusion  to 
the  great  number  of  invaders.  Tahoraparoa  is  the  general 
name  given  to  his  land. 

Ko  U  Tangi  a  te  Ngahuru. 

Te  Ngahuru's  Lament. 

£  miui  ahiahi  ka  totoko  te  aroha,     In  the    evening  my  love  melts 

within  mc, 
Wairua  o  te  hanga  ka  wehe  i     For  the  spirit  of  the  being  who  is 

ahau.  separated  from  me. 

Wai  te  teretere,  e  rere  i  waho     Whoso  is  the  company  that  sails 

ra  ?  along  yonder  ? 

Nou,  e  te  Kohu  !  E  hoki  koutou,     It  is  thine,  0  Kohu !   But  do  you 

return, 
Ripa  ki  to  wehnua,  ki  Makctu     Towards  the  mainland,    even  to 

raia.  Maketu. 

*  A  region  of  Hades. 


i 


SONGS. 


145 


Tenei  matou,  kei  runga  i  te  toka. 
Me  rauhi  mai  te  wairaa  kau, 
Te  waka  ra  e !  i  tataia  mai. 

Toroa  i  te  wai,  kia  paia  atu  koe, 

Haere  ki  raro  ra,  ki  Haiiraki 

raia, 
Hei  matakitaki  mate  nui  a  Ti- 

maru. 
Nei  ka  pae  noa  ki  Maukaha 

raia.  i ! 


Here  are  we,  clinging  to  a  rock. 

We  may  weep  over  the  wreck 

Of  the   canoe,    which  was  gaily 

adorned 
With  albatross  feathers,  to  excite 

admiration, 
When  we  went  northward  to  Hau- 

raki, 
And  be  looked  upon  with  envy  by 

the  Ngatimani. 
But  now  it  is  wrecked  upon  Mau- 

kaha,  Alas ! 


Waiata  Maori. 
Te  Tangi  a  te  Uira.* 


Ra  te  haeata, 

Takiri  ana 

Ki  Tauwara  ra ; 

Pae  tau  and  ki  a  koe 

E  Amo  e  aroha  nei  au. 

Waiho  ra  mata, 

Kia  mihi  au, — 

Kia  roa  i  te  mihinga — 

Ka  tuku  tenei, 

Ki  te  tai  pouri, 

Ki  taku  makau  mate. 


The  bright  sun-beams 

Shoot  down  upon 

Tauwara,  whose 

Lofty  ridge  veils  thee  from 

My  sight.     0  Amo,  my  beloved. 

Leave  me,  that  my  eyes 

May  grieve,  and  that 

They  may  unceasingly  mourn. 

For  soon  must  I  descend 

To  the  dark  shore — 

To  my  beloved,  whohasgone  before. 


Since  their  acquaintance  with  Europeans,  it  is  interesting 
to  notice  the  changes  which  are  constantly  taking  place  in  the 
language,  and  the  facility  with  which  they  naturalize  not  only 


*  Te  Uira  was  a  lady  of  great  rank,  and  mother  of  the  celebrated  warrior 
and  renowned  orator,  Te  Maniapoto,  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Ngatimaniapoto, 
living  on  the  banks  of  the  Waikato  river,  near  the  borders  of  the  Taupo  Lake. 
At  the  time  of  her  decease,  he  was  at  Tauwara,  a  high  mountain  near  Wai- 
paihi,  digging  red  ochre  with  his  principal  warriors.  The  dying  mother  could 
see  the  mountain  from  her  death  bed,  and  remarked  that  it  came  between 
her  and  the  spot  where  her  son,  sometimes  called  Te  Amo,  was  at  work.  She 
desired  her  weeping  friends  not  to  try  to  console  her ;  that  she  had  but  a  short 
time  to  live,  and  wished  thus  to  show  her  love  for  her  son,  as  she  was  now 
about  to  join  her  departed  husband. 

L 


146  MOTTOES. 

English  words,  but  even  whole  sentences.      The  following 
song  is  an  instance  of  it : — 

Ra  te  marama,  ka  mahuta,  There  the  moon  appears 

I  te  pae  na  runga  mai  koc,  From  the  range  ahove  you, 

Ko  au  hci  raro  nei,  Whilst  I  remain  below, 

Tiro  noa  atu  ai,  ki  wahoki,  Looking  in  vain  for  your  return. 

I  te  moana,  he  purenga  pott  mai,     From  the  sea  I  hear  a  pulling  of 

the 
Nau,  e  Tapora,  e  ahu  ana  Boat  (by  the  oar)  towards  me ! 

I  a  te  tai  ki,  i  nga  motu,  Thine,  0  Tapsall,  approaches 

Ko  au  te  eke  atu  te  tera,  o  waho,    From  the  sea  from  nga  motu 
Mokai  taupiri  nana  i  arai  mai  te  The  sprit-«ai7  is  not  seen  by  me, 

kite  atu  au.  For  the  Mokai  Taupiri  shades 

Te  waki  a  Pehi  toro  mai  to  ringa,  It  from  the  view,  but  my  heart 
Hari  ru  taua,  wara  wara  tai  ki  ha.  Confesses  it  is  Pehi. 

Stretchout  your  hand,  how  do  you 
Doy  very  well  I  thank  you. 

One  peculiarity  in  their  songs  is  the  cutting  short  different 
words  to  avoid  harshness,  and  adding  syllables  for  euphony. 

Every  tribe  has  also  its  Motto,  some  of  which  may,  perhaps, 
be  regarded  as  war  cries,  others  as  terms  of  reproach. 

Some  of  these  mottoes  are  given  them  by  other  tribes.  These 
are  generally  reflecting  on  them :  of  this  kind  is  the  following : 

1.  Waikato  hoehoe  waka  nukenuke. — ^Waikato  paddles  are  crooked. 
A  simile  drawn  from  their  shape,  which,  unlike  others,  are  crooked; 
this  is  applied  by  their  enemies  to  their  general  character,  as  being 
deceitful,  and  is  a  term  of  reproach. 

2.  Waikato  taniwa  rau. — Waikato  has  its  hundred  taniwas ;  which 
signifieB,  that  it  has  its  himdred  great  and  powerM  chiefs ;  a  great 
man  being  called  "he  ika,"  a  fish,  or  "he  taniwa,"  a  fish  god. 

3.  Te  wai  nui  a  Tarawera, — The  great  water  of  Tarawera  is  a 
name  to  express  the  number  and  power  of  the  Wanganui  natives. 

4.  Te  koura  puta  roa. — ^A  simile  drawn  from  the  cray  fish,  which, 
though  the  legs  may  be  pulled  off,  escapes  amongst  the  stones ;  so 
the  Wanganui  natives  cannot  be  taken. 

5.  Nga  keri  keringa  a  Ruauoko. — The  digging  of  Kuauoko.  Ku 
is  the  father  of  rivers ;  it  is  an  exclamation  of  admiration  for  the 
Wanganui  river. 


MOTTOES.  147 

6.  2fo  tat  tangata  rau. — A  Baying  far  the  number  and  power  of 
tile  Nga  tl  rau  kawa. 

7.  Nga  ti  awa  U  toki,  U  tanga  tanga  i  ie  ra. — The  faatening  or 
tying  of  the  tolii  (hatchet)  cannot  be  loosened  by  the  heat  of  the 
nm,  to  show  that  no  attacks  woold  weaken  thom. 

8.  Te  karaka  i  rata  mai  i  rtmga  0  Jlangi  atea. — The  karaka, 
which  was  sown  on  Rongiatca,  a  monntain  of  Hawaiki,  too  great  to 


9.  E  kort  Tarcmaki  «  ngaro  k»  harakehe  to  ngai  nui,  no  roto  no 
Waiwiri. — Taranaki  cannot  be  destroyed ;  it  ia  like  the  flax  plant, 
which  is  nourished  every  year  by  the  dead  leareB  of  the  former, 
which  lay  aronnd  the  roots. 

10.  Sangi  tihi  tt  Vfoio,  waia  furtlure. — A  motto  for  Botorua. 

11.  Ifga  ti  Maru  iohao  raw. — Nga  ti  Mant  is  like  a  hundred  eel 
holes,  referring  to  the  many  little  scattered  diTisions  of  this  tribe. 

1 3.  Waikato  horo  pottttamu. — A  bluff  at  the  Waikato  heads,  where 
many  canoes  haTe  been  lost,  and  chiefe  drowned ;  hence  applied  to 
ITaikato,  as  a  chief-destroying  tribe. 

13.  Nga  ti  paoa  taringa  rakt  rahi. — ^Nga  ti  paoa  have  thin  ears, 
or  sensitive  ones ;  they  cannot  brook  an  insult. 

14.  Puhi  taniwa  rau. — A  saying  for  the  Nga  puhi,  similar  to  that 
for  Waikato. 

15.  Ngapuhi  o  ie  arwea. — The  bunches  of  the  pigeon's  feathers 
of  the  arawa.     The  Nga  puhi  ore  very  indignant  at  this  sa3Kng. 


CHAPTER  XL 

PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS. 

In  every  age  and  nation,  men  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
their  natural  appearance,  and  have  adopted  various  ways  of 
improving  it,  which  implies  a  general  conviction  of  natural 
deficiency,  and  this  runs  through  all  grades  of  society.  When 
a  greater  impression  was  to  be  made,  man  did  not  trust  to  his 
natural  countenance  to  make  it,  but  called  in  the  aid  of  various 
adjuncts.  To  give  the  Bishop  the  venerable  look  becoming 
his  high  and  sacred  office,  a  wig,  almost  as  large  and  white  as 
the  fleece  of  a  lamb,  was  deemed  requisite.  This  strange  idea, 
however,  has  passed  away  ;  the  good  sense  of  the  age  caused 
it  to  be  laid  aside  at  the  proper  time,  for  had  it  been  longer 
persisted  in,  it  would  doubtless  have  had  a  contrary  effect  to 


PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS.  149 

that  intended,  and  excited  ridicule  rather  than  reverence. 
The  bar  has  not  profited,  however,  by  the  good  example  of 
the  church.  The  judge  and  barrister  still  cling  to  the  wig, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  ludicrous  appearance  they  make,  we  see 
the  youthful  face  surrounded  by  this  imitation  of  venerable 
age.  But  even  this  is  not  thought  sufficient*  The  Judge, 
when  called  upon  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  death  on  a 
fellow  creature,  summons  additional  aid  to  give  him,  in  that 
affecting  moment,  a  more  than  usual  amount  of  solemnity. 
The  firm  look  of  inexorable  justice,  is  not  thought  sufficient 
to  convey  to  the  convicted  felon  a  proper  sense  of  his  inevi- 
table doom.  The  Judge,  therefore,  gravely  puts  on  a  black 
cap  to  increase  the  effect.  It  is  not  many  years  ago  since 
it  was  the  fashion  ibr  both  young  and  old  to  wear  white 
powder  on  the  head.  This  custom  found  general  favor,  even 
amongst  the  ladies  themselves,  as  imparting  a  very  aristocratic 
look  to  the  wearer,  and  additional  beauty  to  their  fair  locks. 
The  very  children  themselves,  in  polite  circles,  made  their 
appearance  thus  ornamented. 

The  custom  also  of  plastering  up  the  hair,  contrary  to  its 
grain,  with  pomatum,  to  give  increased  elevation  and  dignity 
to  its  fair  wearer ;  and  that  of  the  gentleman,  with  his  queue 
or  pigtail,  mark,  not  only  the  age,  but  the  feeling,  that  the 
natural  dignity  of  the  human  head  required  artificial  aid  to 
improve  it,  and  the  savage  agrees  with  his  civilized  brother. 
Now  that  the  custom  has  passed  away,  we  can  see  the  absurdity 
of  it.  The  New  Zealanders  have  not  been  behind  the  rest  of 
the  family  of  man  in  these  particulars.  They  gave  the  preference 
to  a  red  color,  and  plentifully  anointed  their  heads  with  a 
mixture  of  ochre  and  oil,  which  certainly  imparted  to  them  a 
very  remarkable  look,  the  skull  appearing  as  though  it  had 
been  cleft,  and  was  streaming  down  with  gore.  The  general 
effect  was  heightened  by  a  large  tuft  of  albatross  down,  which 
was  stuck  in  the  lobe  of  each  ear,  and  formed  a  fine  contrast 
with  the  bright  red. 

In  former  times,  the  chief  ladies  and  gentlemen  had  their 
entire  persons  anointed,  or  painted,  with  ochre  and  oil ;  this 
was  considered  both  ornamental  and  useful,  rendering  the 


150  MOKO,    OK   TATTCX). 

limbs  more  supple,  and  the  skin  less  sensible  to  cold,  or  to  the 
bites  of  the  mosquito. 

Wigs  were  not  worn,  although  a  bald  head  (hepakira)  was 
considered  a  reproach.  I  once  recollect  seeing  the  head  chief 
of  Taupo  with  an  English  wig,  made  of  a  light  brown  colored 
hair ;  this  he  wore  over  his  own  raven  locks,  which  descended 
on  every  side  full  half  a  foot  below  the  artificial  covering,  and 
gave  him  a  most  extraordinary  appearance,  which  was  height- 
ened  by  his  total  unconsciousness  of  the  ludicrous  figure  he 
was  making. 

Ear  ornaments  are,  of  course,  in  general  use,  as  they  are 
about  the  last  renmants  of  heathenism  which  will  be  given  up 
by  the  fair  sex.  In  New  Zealand  they  are  worn  by  both 
sexes,  and  are  of  great  variety.  Those  of  green  stone  are  the 
most  highly  prized;  sharks'  teeth,  if  of  large  size,  are,  if 
possible,  still  more  thought  of.  But  the  natives  are  not  very 
particular ;  the  ring  of  a  musket,  a  little  roll  made  of  a  leather 
strap,  or  even  of  paper,  are  frequently  to  be  seen  in  the  ears 
of  the  most  distinguished  individuals.  Many  persons  wear 
the  skins  of  the  Huia  or  Tui  birds  stuck  in  their  ears.  The  neck 
ornament  is  generally  the  green  stone,  which  is  wrought  into 
the  form  of  a  human  figure,  and  called  hei  tiki.  The  hair  of 
a  chief's  head  is  tied  up  in  a  knot,  with  one  or  more  feathers 
stuck  in  it,  which  are  very  ornamental ;  the  favorite  feathers 
are  those  of  the  Huia,  which  are  of  a  velvety  black,  tipped 
with  a  snowy  white. 

But  the  grand  ornament  of  all  was  the  moko  or  tattoo ;  this 
was  of  general  use.  All  ranks  were  thus  ornamented;  a 
papatea,  or  plain  face,  was  a  term  of  reproach.  Some  were 
more  fully  tattooed  than  others,  but  all  were  more  or  less  so. 
The  grand  chiefs  had  their  faces  and  thighs  entirely  covered 
with  this  ornamental  renting  of  the  skin.  The  ladies  had  their 
lips  and  chins  operated  upon,  with  a  little  curl  at  the  comer 
of  the  eye.  Frequently  their  persons  also  were  covered  with 
small  strokes  of  tattooing ;  these  might  be  called  beauty 
patches,  such  as  the  ladies  used  to  wear  on  the  face  made  of 
a  bit  of  court  plaster,  which  were  once  thought  ornamental. 

To  set  off  the  nwko  to  advantage,  it  was  necessary  to  give  up 


MOKO^   OR  TATTOO.  151 

the  beard,  which  was  not  considered  in  the  light  of  an  orna- 
ment. In  former  days,  a  pair  of  muscle  shells  were  generally 
employed,  but  since  their  acquaintance  with  Europeans, 
a  pair  of  large  tweezers,  an  inch  and  a  half  wide,  and  three  or 
four  inches  long,  will  generally  be  seen  hanging  from  the 
garment  or  neck;  and  whenever  the  gentleman  can  find  no 
other  employment,  he  will  occupy  himself  with  them. 

To  allow  the  beard  to  grow,  is  a  sign  of  old  age,  and  a  proof 
that  the  wearer  has  ceased  to  care  for  his  appearance.  A 
person  with  a  beard,  is  addressed  as  e  wekiy  which  is  a  saluta- 
tion equivalent  to,  old  man. 

Before  they  went  to  fight,  the  youth  were  accustomed  to 
mark  their  countenance  with  charcoal  in  diiferent  lines,  and 
their  traditions  state,  that  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  tattoo, 
for  their  wars  became  so  continuous,  that  to  save  the  trouble 
of  thus  continually  painting  the  face,  they  made  the  lines 
permanent  by  the  moko. 

The  substance  generally  used  as  coloring  matter  is  the  resin 
of  the  kauri  or  rimuy  which,  when  burnt,  is  poundedi  and 
converted  to  a  fine  powder.  At  Taupo,  I  went  to  see  the  place 
where  this  pigment  was  manufactiured.  A  narrow  pit  was  sunk 
at  a  little  distance  from  a  precipice,  and  from  the  face  of  the 
cliff  a  passage  was  cut  to  the  bottom  of  it,  over  the  mouth 
of  which  pieces  of  wood  containing  the  resin  were  burnt,  and 
the  residuum  falling  within,  was  taken  away  by  means  of  the 
passage. 

The  uhi  or  instrument  used  was  a  small  chisel,  made  of  the 
bone  of  an  albatross,  very  narrow  and  sharp,  which  was  driven 
by  means  of  a  little  mallet  (a  mahoe)  quite  through  the  skin, 
and  sometimes  completely  through  the  cheek  as  well,  so  that 
when  the  person  undergoing  the  operation  took  his  pipe, 
the  smoke  found  its  way  out  through  the  cuttings.  The 
pain  was  excruciating,  especially  in  the  more  tender  parts, 
and  caused  dreadful  swellings.  Only  a  small  piece  could  be 
done  at  a  time.  The  operator  held  in  his  hand  a  piece  of 
muka  (flax)  dipped  in  the  pigment,  which  he  drew  over  the 
incision  immediately  it  was  made.  The  blood  which  flowed 
freely  from  the  wound  was  constantly  wiped  away  with  a  little 


152  MOKO,    OR  TATTOO. 

bit  of  flax.  The  pattern  was  first  drawn  either  with  charcoal 
or  scratched  in  with  a  sharp-pointed  instrument.  To  tattoo  a 
person  fully,  is  therefore  a  work  of  time,  and  to  attempt  to  do 
too  much  at  once,  endangered  the  life.  I  remember  a  poor 
porangiy  or  insane  person,  who,  during  the  war,  was  tattooed 
most  unmercifully  by  some  young  scoundrels.  The  poor  man*s 
wounds  were  so  dreadfully  inflamed^  that  they  occasioned  his 
death. 

During  the  time  that  any  one  was  being  tattooed,  all  persons 
in  the  pa  were  tapu,  until  the  termination  of  the  work,  lest 
any  evil  should  befal  them.  To  have  fine  tattooed  faces,  was 
the  great  ambition  of  young  men,  both  to  render  themselves 
attractive  to  the  ladies,  and  conspicuous  in  war :  for  even  if 
killed  by  the  enemy,  whilst  the  heads  of  the  untattooed  were 
treated  with  indignity,  and  kicked  on  one  side,  those  which 
were  conspicuous  by  their  beautiful  moko,  were  carefully  cut 
ofiT,  stuck  on  the  ttiruturu,  a  pole  with  a  cross  on  it,  and  then 
preserved ;  all  which  was  highly  gratifying  to  the  survivors, 
and  the  spirits  of  their  late  possessors. 

The  person  operated  upon  was  stretched  all  his  length  on 
the  ground,  and  to  encourage  him  manfully  to  endure  the  pain, 
songs  were  continually  sung  to  him.  The  following  is  one 
which  was  used  on  such  occasions  : — 

He  tangata  i  to  wakautu,  He  who  pays  well,  let  him  bo 

beautifully  ornamented ; 

Ki  ata  wakanakonako,  But  he  who  forgets  the  operator, 

He  tangata  wakautu  kore,  let  him  bo  done  carelessly. 

Kumekumea  kia  tatahi,  Be  the  lines  wide  apart. 

E  hiki  Tangaroa,  0  hiki  Tangaroa, 

£  hiki  Tangaroa.  0  hiki  Tangaroa. 

Patua  kite  waka  tangitangi,  Strike,  that  the  chisel  as  it  cuts 

along  may  sound. 

E  hiki  Tangaroa  hai,  0  hiki  Tangaroa. 

Tangata  te  kitea,  Men  do  not  know  the  skill  of  the 

To  waihanga  patua,  operator  in  driving  his  sounding 

Ki  te  wakatangi  tangi,  chisel  along. 

E  hiki  Tangaroa  hai.  0  hiki  Tangaroa. 

This  song  was  chiefly  to  remind  the  gentleman  of  the  duty 


MOKO,    OR  TATTOO.  153 

he  owed  to  the  operator,  who,  not  having  any  regular  profes- 
sional charges,  chiefly  depended  on  the  liberality  of  his  patient, 
who  was  expected  not  only  to  feed  him  with  the  best,  but  to  make 
him  a  very  handsome  present  as  well.  And  when  the  operator 
suspected  that  he  should  not  be  remembered,  he  frequently 
became  very  careless  in  his  work,  and  rendered  the  person  an 
object  for  life.  Some  of  the  mokos  are  very  coarsely  done, 
whilst  others  are  finished  with  an  artist's  touch,  by  which  we 
are  able  to  judge  of  the  way  they  have  severally  paid  the 
owner  of  the  sounding  chisel. 

Whilst  the  males  had  every  part  of  the  face  tattooed,  and 
the  thighs  as  well,  the  females  had  chiefly  the  chin  and  the 
lips,  although  occasionally  they  also  had  their  thighs  and 
breasts,  and  a  few  smaller  marks  on  different  parts  of  the  body. 
There  were  regular  rules  for  tattooing,  and  the  artist  always 
went  systematically  to  work,  beginning  at  one  spot  and 
gradually  proceeding  to  another,  each  particular  part  having 
its  distinguishing  name.     Thus,  they  commenced  .with — 

1 .  Te  kawe,  which  arc  four  lines  on  each  side  of  the  chin. 

2.  Te  pukawae,  six  lines  on  the  chin. 

3.  Nga  rere  hupe,  the  lines  below  the  nostrils,  six  in  number. 

4.  I^ga  koktri,  a  curved  line  on  the  cheek  bone. 

5.  iV^a  koroahay  lines  between  the  cheek  bone  and  ear. 

6.  iV^a  wakarakau,  lines  below  the  former. 

7.  Nga  panyiangiaj  the  lines  on  each  side  of  the  lower  extremity 

of  the  nose. 

8.  Nga  pae  tarewa,  the  lines  on  the  cheek  bone. 

9.  Kgarerepiy  andiV^a  ngatareway  lines  on  the  bridge  of  the  nose. 

10.  Nga  titcana,  four  lines  on  the  forehead. 

1 1 .  Nga  rewha,  three  lines  below  the  eyebrows. 

12.  Nga  titi,  lines  on  the  centre  of  the  forehead. 

13.  Ipu  rangiy  lines  above  the  former. 

14.  Te  tono  kat,*  the  general  name  for  the  lines  on  the  forehead. 

15.  He  ngutu  pu  rua,  both  lips  tattooed. 

16.  Te  rape  J  the  higher  part  of  the  tliighs. 

17.  Te  paki  paki,  the  tattooing  on  the  seat. 

*  The  name  derived  from  the  movement  made  when  a  person  assents  that 
he  wants  food  cooking  for  him^  by  raising  the  eyebrows. 


154  MOKAI. 

18.  Te  paki  turi,  the  lower  thigh. 

19.  JN'i^a  tata,  the  adjoining  part. 

The  following  are  female  tattoos  : — 

1.  Taki  takiy  lines  from  the  breast  to  the  navel. 

2.  Sope  hope^  the  lines  on  the  thighs. 

3.  Wc^  te  he,  the  lines  on  the  chin. 

Connected  with  tattooing,  is  the  art  of  embalming.  This 
was  done  in  order  that  great  warriors  might  show  the  heads 
of  all  the  distinguished  chiefs  they  killed  But  this  art  was 
not  employed  for  that  purpose  alone ;  it  enabled  them  to 
preserve  the  heads  of  those  who  were  dear  to  them,  and  to 
keep  these  remembrances  of  beloved  objects  ever  near.  It 
was  no  uncommon  thing  to  embalm  in  this  way  the  head 
of  a  beloved  wife  or  child.  I  have  seen  several  instances 
of  this  kind. 

To  prepare  them  for  drying  was  called  paki  paki,  or  popo, 
which  signifies  the  taking  out  of  the  brain  ;  they  were  then 
subjected  to  repeated  steamings  in  the  oven.  After  each 
steaming,  the  heads  were  carefully  wiped  with  the  flowers  of 
the  kakaho,  or  reed,  and  every  portion  of  flesh  and  brain  was 
removed.  A  small  thin  manuka  stick  was  thrust  between  the 
skin  and  bone  of  the  nose  to  preserve  its  form.  When  this 
process  was  ended,  they  were  dried  in  the  sun,  and  afterwards 
exposed  to  the  smoke  of  their  houses.  One  of  the  first  things^ 
however,  was  to  extract  the  eyes,  and  fill  the  sockets  with  flax, 
and  then  sew  the  lids  together.  These  heads,  thus  prepared, 
seemed  to  be  exempt  from  the  attack  of  insects,  being 
thoroughly  impregnated  with  pyroligneous  acid*  In  former 
days  the  preparation  of  heads  was  very  general ;  they  were 
done  for  sale  to  the  Europeans,  and  so  great  was  the  demand, 
that  many  a  murderous  attack  has  been  made  solely  to 
obtain  heads  for  the  market ;  and  those  who  were  the  most 
finely  tattooed,  were  chiefly  sought  for.  How  many  of  the 
sins  of  these  savage  islanders  have  been  participated  in  by  their 
European  visitors !  Few  are  aware  to  what  extent  this  abomi- 
nable traffic  has  been  carried,  but  it  has  now  totally  ceased. 
I  have,  however,  been  assured,  that  not  a  few  of  the  heads 
thus  preserved  were  those  of  Europeans,  and  some  of  them  of 


NAMES.  155 

the  very  individuals  who  came  to  purchase  such  things  for  the 
European  market.*  If  the  person  to  whom  the  head  had 
belonged  was  a  relative  or  friend,  the  operators  had  to  remove 
to  some  distance  from  the  pa,  and  neither  they  nor  the  rela- 
tions were  allowed  to  touch  any  food  until  it  was  cured,  for 
if  the  process  were  witnessed  by  the  friends  of  the  dead, 
they  would  be  unable  to  repress  their  tears,  and  the  head 
would  be  spoiled ;  but  if  it  were  only  the  head  of  an  enemy, 
the  operation  was  performed  before  all  the  people. 

These  preserved  heads  of  relatives  were  kept  in  baskets,  care- 
fully made  and  scented  with  oil.  When  brought  out  to  be 
cried  over,  they  were  ornamented  with  feathers  and  placed  in 
some  conspicuous  place. 

Native  Names  have  always  a  signification,  and  are  never 
given  at  random ;  those  of  chiefs,  are  selected  with  much 
thought,  from  the  waka  paparanga,  or  genealogical  tables  of 
their  ancestors,  for  none  can  exceed  the  natives  in  their  pride 
of  descent.  Their  genealogical  tree  was  compared  to  the  hue 
(calabash),  the  main  shoot  or  stem  of  which  is  called  the 
tahuhUf  and  the  branches  kawae.  Very  little  is  thought  of  a 
chief  who  cannot  count  back  some  twenty  or  thirty  generations, 
and  the  high  families  carry  their's  back  even  to  the  beginning 
of  all  things.  I  was  once  very  much  amused  in  obtaining 
a  tradition  of  this  kind,  beginning  with  na  te  kore  i  ai, 
from  the  nothing  the  something,  which  went  on  gradually 
introducing  name  after  name,  and  at  last  terminating  with  that 
of  the  speaker.  The  Tupunas  and  Arikis  carefully  taught 
their  children  the  names  of  their  ancestors,  and  to  aid  them 
in  this  work,  each  family  had  a  curious  carved  board,  called 
/ie  waka  paparanga  rakau.  This  was  made  something  like  a 
saw,  each  tooth  representing  a  name ;  and  here  and  there  where 
a  tooth  was  wanting,  it  implied  that  the  male  line  had  failed, 
and  been  continued  in  that  of  a  female. 

It  is  considered  rude  to  ask  a  chief  his  name,  as  it  implies 
that  he  is  a  person  of  no  consequence,  from  his  not  being 
known.     A  person  speaking  ironically  of  another,  who  thinks 

•  See  Life  of  Andrew  Powers. 


156  NAMES. 

much  of  his  dignity,  says,  "  O  yes,  he  is  a  great  chief  indeed  ; 
wherever  he  goes,  they  inquire,  who  is  he?"  The  polite 
way  of  apologizing  for  a  person's  ignorance  of  another's  name, 
is  to  say,  "  Ka  patau  i  kai  ahau  i  te  umu  o  to  tapanga.^'  If  1 
had  partaken  of  the  feast  given  when  you  were  named,  then 
indeed  I  should  have  known  you. 

A  chief  generally  receives  three  names  during  his  life  :    the 

first  immediately  after  he  comes  into  the  world  is  given  by 

his  mother,  and  might  be  called  his  child's  name,  such  as 

Tangi  kai,  from  the  child  crying   for  food ;    Poaka   (pig), 

from  its  greediness ;  Mokai^  pet ;  Moe  oney  a  little  lively  grub ; 

Mouri,   heart's  blood ;    &c.     The   next   was   given    at    the 

tuatanga,  or  naming,  and  was  assumed  as  he  grew  up;  the 

last  being  taken  at  the  death  of  his  father,  which  might  be 

called  the  family  name.     When  Pehi  died,  Pakoro  his  son 

took  it ;  and  Te  Hiko,  the  second  son,  assumed  his  father's 

second  name,   Turoa.      So  also  when  te   Heuheu  died,  his 

younger  brother,   Iwikau,   adopted  his  name.     Frequently, 

however,  names  were  acquired  by  something  occurring  to  the 

individual.     The  head  chief  of  the  Rarawa  obtained  the  name 

of  Panakareao,  from  his  being  entangled  amongst  the  supple 

jacks  in  the  forest,  whilst  fleeing  from  a  battle  where  his  men 

were  routed ;  in  that  state,  he  was  captured  by  a  woman,  and 

honorably  restored  to  liberty,  with  this  name,  which  he  has 

ever  since  borne. 

Tumuwakairia,  a  principal  chief  of  the  Mani-a-poto, 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  threatened  with  being  hung  from 
the  tumu,  or  knot  of  a  tree,  but  being  rescued  by  another 
chief  from  the  fate  intended  liim,  he  hence  acquired  his  present 
name,  which  signifies,  the  suspended  from  the  knot  of  a  tree. 
Te  Wakaahu,  a  Wanganui  chief,  slew  Tuwhare,  a  head 
chief  of  the  Ngatiwhatua  from  Kaipara;  he  did  not  die  at 
once,  but  lingered  for  a  day  or  two.  The  dying  chief  told 
his  conqueror  he  was  no  warrior,  but  only  a  husbandman; 
that  he  had  not  the  hand  of  a  man  accustomed  to  fight,  but 
only  he  ringa  ririga  mahi  kai,  a  hand  accustomed  to  work,  or 
he  would  have  killed  him  outright.  His  conqueror  ever 
after  retained  that  as  his  name,  and  his  son  after  him. 


NAMES.  167 

Hau  paraha,  the  leaf  of  the  convolvolus,  was  a  name  given 
to  that  chief  by  his  father's  murderer,  who  said,  if  he  caught 
him  he  would  be  a  relish  for  that  vegetable. 

Huia,  the  daughter  of  Pomare,  gave  her  infant  the  name  of 
Nota  (north  star),  the  vessel  on  board  of  which  Pomare  was 
carried  a  prisoner,  in  defiance  of  a  flag  of  truce.  The  widow 
of  Matene  Ruta,  who  was  taken  prisoner  at  Porirua,  during 
the  late  war,  and  cruelly  hung,  to  commemorate  the  event, 
called  her  infant,  which  was  born  after  its  father's  death, 
JRepeka,  the  hung. 

Some  derived  their  names  from  their  occupations.  Bua  kiri 
kiri  (gravel  pit)  was  the  name  of  a  slave,  chiefly  employed  in 
digging  and  carrying  gravel  to  the  kumara  and  taro  grounds, 
which  are  so  covered,  nearly  a  foot  deep,  in  order  to  obtain 
better  crops. 

Some  names  are  taken  in  defiance,  although  they  have 
originally  been  given  by  way  of  reproach,  or  as  a  curse  ;  thus, 
when  a  woman  made  a  song  on  Poto,  a  great  chief,  and  said, 
"  Taku  kuru  kanga  ko  koe  e  Poto  te  kai  mo  roto  ko  te  Rangi 
wakaruTua^^  which  is,  literally.  You  are  the  pounder  of  my 
rotten  com,  O  Poto ;  the  food  for  my  stomach  is  Rangi  waka- 
rurua,  your  father.  This  was  a  great  curse,  and  to  show  his 
indignant  defiance,  Poto  took  the  name,  Kuru  Kanga^  and 
his  friend  Taui,  who  was  his  relative,  to  show  his  entire 
sympathy  with  him,  also  took  as  his  name  Te  kai  o  roto. 
Horpatene's  first  name  was  Taui,  but  now  his  surname  is  Te 
kai  o  roto. 

Chiefs  frequently  acquired  names  from  their  peculiar  way  of 
fighting.  Mawai  is  a  creeping  plant  like  the  cucumber,  which 
climbs  over  the  fortifications  of  the  pa,  a  name  given  to 
its  original  bearer  to  commemorate  his  crafty  way  of  sur- 
prising pas.  Heu  heu  implies  that  the  chief  suddenly  came 
upon  his  enemy  by  sculking  amongst  the  brush  wood.  Tinirau 
signifies  the  warrior,  who  slew  many  hundreds  with  his  own 
hand.  Other  names  mark  the  lofty  pretensions  of  their  owners. 
Bangi-iri'hau  is  the  heaven  lifted  up  above  the  wind  or  storm, 
to  show  that  he  was  too  great  to  be  moved  by  any  of  the  out- 
breaks of  his  enemies.    Rangi  i  runga,  the  heaven  above,  one 


158  NAMES. 

of  the  ten  heavens,  is  a  name  for  a  great  man.  Rangi  tauira,  the 
heavenly  pattern.  Rangi  hae  ata,  the  first  ray  of  morning ; 
Te  ihi,  the  sun-beam.  Te  Heuheu  was  overwhelmed,  with 
nearly  sixty  of  his  tribe,  by  a  great  landslip ;  his  surviving  son 
assumed  the  name  of  Horonguku,  the  sliding  landslip. 

Warekohuru  is  the  name  of  a  child  whose  parent  was  mur- 
dered in  his  own  house.  Marupo  and  Patupo,  are  the  names 
of  midnight  murderers.  Paerangi  (fair  sky)  is  the  name  of  a 
man  of  peace,  or  it  may  be  the  same  as  Paeroa,  the  long  pae, 
or  mountain  range,  to  express  his  high  pretensions.  Kau 
tnoana  and  Oe  waka  are  names  for  great  sailors.  When  a 
beloved  child  or  great  chief  dies,  the  last  thing  eaten  is  fre- 
quently taken  as  a  name  by  some  surviving  member  of  the 
family ;  thus,  the  name  of  Hararuta  (arrow  root)  has  been 
assumed.  When,  however,  a  person  dies,  the  survivors  care- 
fully avoid  mentioning  his  name,  if  it  be  one  relating  to  food, 
as  Kapana^  taewa  (a  potatoe).  Thus  Kai  (food),  the  name  of 
a  Rotorua  chief,  at  his  death  died  with  him ;  it  being  considered 
a  curse  to  repeat  the  word.  Tami  has  there  been  substituted, 
instead.  Some  names  appear  very  blasphemous,  such  as 
Puku  atua  (God's  belly) ;  many  are  very  obscene.*  Taiarikij 
little  walking-stick,  is  a  name  for  a  short  person,  and  Taiaroa^ 
one  for  a  tall  gentleman,  the  taiaha  being  a  chief's  stafil 

Everything  has  its  name ;  their  houses,  canoes,  weapons, 
and  even  garments,  have  distinctive  appellations  given  them. 
Thus,  when  Hori  Kingi  built  a  new  house,  he  named  it 
Ingarani  (England),  to  show  his  friendship  for  our  country. 
If  the  natives  perceive  any  honor  attached  to  our  English 
names,  they  immediately  adopt  them.  They  have  thus  as- 
sumed kingi,  for  king ;  kuini,  for  queen ;  kawana,  governor ; 
pihopa,  bishop ;  kanara,  colonel ;  Kingi  Wiremu,  King  William ; 
Wikitoria  te  Kuini,  Victoria  the  Queen. 

One  chief  inquired  if  Earl  Grey  was  not  a  higher  title  than 
Sir  G.  Grey,  and  when  told  it  was,  then,  said  he,  my  child 
shall  be  called  Earl  Grey,  ^^Takerei''     Names  also  mark  the 

*  The  natives  formerly  went  naked,  and  did  not  think  there  was  anything 
indecent  in  doing  so.  In  the  same  way  they  spoke  naked,  using  most  obscene 
language  without  seeing  any  impropriety  in  it. 


NAMES.  159 

arrival  of  anything  new  in  the  country :  paura,  powder ;  tupara, 
double-barrelled  gun ;  hota,  shot ;  pu,  a  gun ;  and  pu  nui,  a 
big  giui  (cannon) ;  pukera,  bugler ;  kai  paura,  powder-eater ; 
these  are  names  showing  their  love  of  war.  Others  mark 
their  growing  attachment  for  domestic  comforts,  and  a  peace- 
ful life : — Kai  huka  is  sugar-eater;  nga  hiti,  sheets ;  ti  kapa, 
tea  cup ;  ti  kera,  tea  kettle ;  tupeka,  tobacco.  Nor  is  even  the 
final  abode  of  man  lost  sight  of :  kawena  (coffin)  is  a  favorite 
appellation.  Names  thus  chronicle  the  introduction  of  new 
articles,  and  record  any  striking  event.  It  was  only  last  year 
(1854)  the  measles  made  their  first  appearance  in  New  Zealand. 
A  child  was  brought  for  baptism ;  on  inquiring  what  its  native 
name  was,  the  mother  said  it  was  Mate  haerCy  the  spreading 
disease.  In  the  same  way,  a  person  who  is  grateful  for  his 
recovery  from  some  dangerous  disease,  assumes  the  name  of 
Tumahu,  the  convalescent. 

Their  lands  are  all  named ;  so  also  the  sea  beaches  round 
the  island;  their  horses,  cows,  and  pigs,  even  their  trees, 
especially  karaka  trees ;  rocks  and  fountains.  Go  where  you 
will,  in  the  midst  of  an  apparently  untrodden  wilderness, 
and  ask.  Has  this  spot  a  name?  and  any  native  belonging 
to  that  district  will  immediately  give  one. 


HB  WAKA  PAPAmAMOA  lAKAV,  01  OEMXOLOOICAL  BOABD. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


DREAMS. 


The  natives  are  great  observers  of  Dreams,  which  were 
formerly  thought  to  be  sent  from  their  gods  to  advertise  them 
of  coming  events.  The  common  name  for  dreams  is  moe  hewa, 
or  moe  moea ;  but  if  they  are  long-continued  ones,  they  are 
called  popopo  hewa. 

A  karakia,  called  uriuri,  literally  to  turn  round,  or  avert 
the  fulfilment  of  bad  dreams,  was  constantly  repeated  when 
any  one  had  what  he  interpreted  to  be  an  unlucky  one.  In 
dreams  it  is  supposed  that  the  soul  leaves  the  body  and  visits 
the  Beinga,  where  it  holds  converse  with  the  spirits  of  its 
friends.    Every  dream,  they  think,  lias  its  signification,  and 


DREAMS.  161 

they  are  almost  as  skilful  in  interpreting  them  as  Atemidorus 
himself. 

If  a  person  dreamed  of  a  sick  relative,  and  imagined  that  he 
saw  him  in  a  very  ghastly  state,  apparently  on  the  point  of 
death,  it  would  be  considered  a  sign  of  his  speedy  restoration 
to  health ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  appeared  to  be  quite 
well,  that  would  be  a  sign  of  death.  To  dream  of  seeing  the 
dead,  is  a  sign  of  death  to  the  living ;  and  of  seeing  the  living, 
a  sign  of  good.  Manihera,  the  night  before  he  was  murdered 
at  Taupo,  dreamed  that  he  saw  several  of  his  friends  who  were 
dead,  and  said  to  those  around,  he  felt  sure  he  should  be 
in  the  Reinga  himself  before  the  next  night.  His  interpre- 
tation proved  to  be  true ;  that  very  day  he  was  cruelly  mur- 
dered with  his  companion. 

To  dream  of  ascending  a  precipice  to  a  pa  on  the  top  of  a 
hill,  without  success,  is  a  very  bad  sign,  and  a  sure  token  of 
failing  in  whatever  pursuit  the  person  may  be  engaged. 

To  dream  of  being  speared,  is  a  sign  of  meeting  some  person 
or  friend.  On  a  journey  through  a  lonely  forest,  one  of  my 
natives  dreamed  that  he  was  speared,  and  so  general  was  the 
expectation  of  meeting  some  one  next  day,  that  my  companions 
repeatedly  hallooed,  that  the  person  who  was  supposed  to  be 
coming  might  hear  them. 

If,  in  the  time  of  war,  when  two  parties  went  out  against 
each  other,  and  slept  with  only  a  little  space  between  them, 
one  should  dream  that  he  saw  a  kakariki  (green  parrot)  in  the 
oven,  divided  into  two  parts,  it  would  be  a  sure  sign  of  his 
own  death  the  next  day. 

If  a  person  dreams  of  another  squeezing  the  juice  of  the 
tutu  (coriaria  sarmentosa)  on  the  road,  it  is  a  certain  sign 
that  a  murder  will  be  committed ;  the  juice  of  tutu  being  the 
same  as  blood. 

If  you  dream  of  a  rat  being  caught  in  a  trap,  it  is  also  a 
very  bad  sign,  and  a  sure  token  of  murder. 

If  you  dream  of  seeing  a  person's  hair  singed,  it  is  a  sign 
that  his  head  chief  will  die. 

If  you  dream  that  you  see  a  person  eating,  who  does  not 
offer  any  portion  of  the  food  to  you,  it  is  a  sign  of  death. 

M 


162  MARRIAGK. 

If  you  dream  of  a  friend  who  is  on  a  journey,  and  that  you 
speak  to  him  and  receive  a  reply,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  person 
is  not  coming  back. 

If  you  dream  of  friends,  and  they  turn  to  you,  and  you  see 
them  in  good  health,  it  is  a  bad  sign. 

If  you  dream  of  a  friend  on  a  journey,  but  do  not  see  his 
face,  which  he  turns  away  from  you,  as  persons  do  who  dance 
the  maimai,  or  nga  ngahu,  it  is  a  good  sign  of  your  friend 
being  near  his  home. 

If  you  dream  of  your  kumara  shooting  vigorously,  it  is  a 
sign  of  a  good  crop. 

If  you  dream  you  hear  the  name  of  your  absent  friend 
mentioned,  and  that  you  go  to  look  for  him,  but  do  not  see 
his  face,  it  is  a  sure  sign  of  soon  meeting  him. 

If  you  dream  of  swimming,  it  prognosticates  a  rainy  day. 

If  you  are  ill,  and  dream  of  some  absent  friend,  who  turns 
and  salutes  you,  it  is  a  good  sign  that  you  will  recover,  and 
again  see  your  friend. 

Kawana  Paipai,  when  at  a  distance  from  home,  laid  up 
with  sickness,  dreamed  that  he  saw  his  minister's  wife,  who 
turned  to  him  and  shook  his  hand ;  this  good  omen  so  cheered 
him  up,  that  he  speedily  got  well,  and  on  his  return,  the 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  go  and  call  on  her  and  shake  hands 
with  her. 

If  a  tohunga,  who  accompanies  a  taua,  or  war  party,  dreams 
that  his  atua  is  killed  by  the  atua  of  the  place  they  are  going 
to  attack,  it  is  such  a  bad  omen  that  the  taua  immediately 
returns. 

If  a  person  dreams  that  he  sees  another  coming  to  kill  him, 
it  is  a  good  sign.     The  person  seen  will  be  killed  himself. 

•One  way  of  obtaining  answers  from  the  gods,  was  by  dreams. 
When  the  priest  was  in  any  doubt,  he  waited  for  his  god  to 
reveal  his  will  to  him  by  dreams,  and  he  generally  had  one 
which  conveyed  the  required  information.* 

The  Maori  seem  to  differ  from  almost  every  known  tribe  or 
nation  in  having  no  regular  Marriage  Ceremony ;  they  had  no 

*  See  1  Sam.  xxiz.,  ]5. 


IVIARRIAOE.  163 

karakia  or^any  rite  to  mark  an  event,  which  in  nearly  every 
other  part  of  the  world,  is  accounted  the  most  joyous  in  life.* 

The  ancient  and  most  general  way  of  obtaining  a  wife  was 
for  the  gentleman  to  summon  his  friends,  and  make  a  regular 
taua,  or  fight,  to  carry  off  the  lady  by  force,  and  oftentimes 
with  great  violence.  Even  when  a  girl  was  bestowed  in  marriage 
by  her  parents,  frequently  some  distant  relatives  would  feel 
aggrieved,  and  fancy  they  had  a  greater  right  to  her,  as  a  wife 
for  one  of  their  tribe ;  or,  if  the  girl  had  eloped  with  some  one 
on  whom  she  had  placed  her  affections,  then  her  father  or 
brothers  would  refuse  their  consent,  and  in  either  case  would 
carry  a  taua  against  the  husband  and  his  friends,  to  regain 
possession  of  the  girl,  either  by  persuasion  or  force.  If  con- 
fined in  a  house,  they  would  pull  it  down,  and  if  they  gained 
access,  then  a  fearful  contest  would  ensue.  The  unfortunate 
female  thus  placed  between  two  contending  parties,  would 
soon  be  divested  of  every  rag  of  clothing,  and  thus  would  be 
seized  by  her  head,  hair,  or  limbs,  and  as  those  who  contended 
for  her  became  tired  with  the  struggle,  fresh  combatants  would 
supply  their  places  from  the  rear,  climbing  over  the  shoulders 
of  their  friends,  and  so  edge  themselves  into  the  mass  imme- 
diately round  the  woman,  whose  cries  and  shrieks  would  be 
unheeded  by  her  savage  friends:  in  this  way,  the  poor  creature 
was  often  nearly  torn  to  pieces.  These  savage  contests  some- 
times ended  in  the  strongest  party  bearing  off  in  triumph  the 
naked  person  of  the  bride ;  in  some  cases,  after  a  long  season  of 
suffering,  she  recovered,  to  be  given  to  a  person  for  whom  she 
had  no  affection  ;  in  others,  to  die  within  a  few  hours  or  days 
from  the  injuries  she  had  received.  But  it  was  not  uncommon 
for  the  weaker  party,  when  they  found  they  could  not  prevail, 
for  one  of  them  to  put  an  end  to  the  contest  by  suddenly 
plunging  his  spear  into  the  woman's  bosom,  to  hinder  her  from 
becoming  the  property  of  another. 

Even  in  the  case  when  all  were  agreeable,  it  was  still 
customary  for  the  bridegroom  to  go  with  a  party,  and  appear 
to  take  her  away  by  force,  her  friends  yielding  her  up  after  a 

*  In  Burmah  also  there  are  no  religious  ceremonies  at  marriage. — See 
Jlialcolm*t  Travels  in  Burmah. 

m2 


164  POLYGAMY. 

feigned  struggle.  A  few  days  afterwards,  the  parents  of  the 
lady,  with  all  her  relatives,  came  to  the  bridegroom  for  his 
pretended  abduction ;  after  much  speaking  and  apparent  anger, 
the  bridegroom  generally  made  a  handsome  present  of  fine 
mats,  &c.,  giving  the  party  an  abundant  feast. 

When  the  parents  thus  consented,  they  usually  said,  E  pai 
ana  kia  moe  korua,  koto  tungane  kia  kanga  iho  ano  korua, 
kanga  iho  ano  kia  korua  ano. 

Sometimes  the  father  simply  told  his  intended  son-in-law, 
he  might  come  and  live  with  his  daughter ;  she  was  thence- 
fortli  considered  as  his  wife,  he  continued  to  live  with  his 
father-in-law,  being  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  tribe  or 
hapu,  to  which  his  wife  belonged,  and  in  case  of  war,  the 
son-in-law  was  often  thus  obliged  to  fight  against  his  own 
relatives.  So  common  is  the  custom  of  the  bridegroom 
going  to  live  with  his  wife's  family,  that  it  frequently  occurs, 
when  he  refuses  to  do  so,  his  wife  will  leave  him,  and  go 
back  to  her  relatives.  Several  instances  came  under  my 
notice  where  young  men  have  tried  to  break  through  this 
custom,  and  have  so  lost  their  wives. 

The  native  term  for  courtship  is  he  am  aruy  literally,  a  fol- 
lowing or  pursuing  after.  Ropa  *  is  a  declaration  of  love  by 
pinching  the  fingers.  He  puna  rua  is  a  struggling  of  two 
suitors  by  pulling  the  poor  girl,  who  became  the  property  of 
the  stronger ;  it  is  also  a  term  applied  to  a  man  with  two  wives. 
Tau  mau  is  to  betroth  or  promise  a  girl  in  marriage ;  wai  aipo 
is  when  she  is  given  and  resides  with  her  husband. 

Every  chief  was  at  liberty  to  take  as  many  wives  as  he 
pleased.  If  a  chief  had  several  wives,  they  were  called  the 
hoahoa  of  the  head  wife.  They  generally  had  from  three  to 
six,  seldom  more,  and  in  many  cases  only  one,  especially 
amongst  the  lower  orders.  The  number  of  wives  added  to 
the  husband's  importance,  each  wife  having  her  own  mara,  or 
farm,  and  her  own  establishment,  according  to  her  rank,  and 
furnished   her  share  of  the  supplies  for  the  establishment. 

*  Ropa  is  probably  derived  from  Ro,  the  praying  mantis,  and  pa  to  touch : 
this  insect  pinches  those  who  touch  it  -with  its  fore  legs,  which  arc  corered  with 
spines.    If  a  married  woman  sees  one,  it  is  regarded  as  a  sign  of  her  conception. 


CHILDREN.  165 

When  a  chief  had  several  wives,  he  could  then  entertain  guests 
without  fear  of  scarcity,  and  this  was  a  sign  of  greatness. 

When  a  man  left  home  on  a  long  journey,  he  repeated  a 
karakia  over  his  wife,  that  she  might  be  faithful,  with  a  curse 
on  any  one  who  should  do  him  dishonor : — 

Ko  Mara  kia  tiakina  te  waha  o  runga, 

Ko  Tutangata  kino  kia  tiakina  te  waha  o  raro, 

Ka  wakanoho  ko  mata  te  kuwaha  ka  kapi  ka  urahia, 

He  aha  te  manu  nana  i  noho  te  upoko  o  taku  kaha  ? 

He  katipo,  he  karewa,  he  au  ika,  kia  tika  ki  to  tangata, 

Nana  i  makutu,  nana  i  kaia. 

Generally,  the  first  wife  was  a  lady  of  rank,  and  was  always 
viewed  as  the  chief  wife,  however  many  others  there  might 
be,  and  of  whatever  rank ;  but  some  were  regarded  as  servile 
wives.    Heuheu  had  six,  but  one  only  ranked  as  the  head  wife. 

The  first  bom  son,  though  his  mother  was  only  a  slave  wife,  had 
all  the  rights  of  primogeniture ;  but  should  the  first  born  child 
be  by  the  lady  wife,  he  then  acquired  the  dignity  of  an  ariki. 
This  rank  also  was  given  to  her  first  bom,  although  a  female. 

Infanticide  was  formerly  very  common.  It  was  generally 
perpetrated  by  the  mother,  and  frequently  from  grief  for  the 
loss  of  her  husband,  or  in  revenge  for  his  ill-treatment  of  her. 
A  woman  of  the  Thames  destroyed  seven  of  her  children ;  the 
reason  she  assigned  for  such  unnatural  cruelty,  was  that  she 
might  be  light  to  run  away,  if  attacked  or  pursued  by  the 
enemy  :  this  was  especially  the  fate  of  female  children. 

But  in  general  they  show  great  affection  for  their  ofl&pring ; 
indeed  the  children  are  sufifered  to  do  as  they  like.  They  sit 
in  all  their  councils,  they  are  never  checked ;  once,  and  once 
only,  I  saw  a  man,  whose  child  (an  infant,  one  or  two  years 
old)  was  very  troublesome,  crying  incessantly  in  the  church, 
take  him  up  and  run  out  with  him  to  a  river  close  by,  in  which 
he  kept  ducking  him  until  he  ceased  crying.*  The  children 
seem  to  be  more  precocious  than  those  of  Europeans,  and 
however  unruly  in  younger  days,  when  about  sixteen  they 

*  This  is  the  usual  way  of  curing  little  squeaking  pigs :  they  hold  them 
under  water  until  they  are  quiet. 


166  EATING. 

become  quite  men,  and  frequently  as  grave  and  staid,  except 
in  war  time ;  then  these  youths  are  the  worst,  and  commit  the 
greatest  excesses. 

Robertson  states,  that  the  American  natives  were  remark- 
able for  their  being  small  eaters ;  this  cannot  be  affirmed  of  the 
natives  of  New  Zealand.  In  their  natural  state  they  are  great 
eaters,  and  seem  to  prefer  fat  and  oily  substances,  such  as  no 
European,  unless  pressed  with  hunger,  or  from  the  extreme 
north  perhaps,  could  touch.  The  natives  fed  even  on  putrid 
whales,  and  tainted  meat,  with  apparent  relish.  Man,  indeed,  in 
a  savage  state,  does  not  seem  to  possess  the  sense  of  smell  to  the 
same  extent,  that  he  does  in  an  advanced  state  of  civilization, 
or  else  his  perceptions  are  different,  and  the  smell  of  putrid 
substances  is  not  only  not  offensive,  but  positively  agreeable. 

Uncivilized  man  appears  to  prefer  fat  and  oil  as  food.  I  have 
frequently  seen  natives  eating  their  potatoes  with  putrid  train 
oiJ,  plentifully  poured  over  them  :  also,  when  they  have  roasted 
pigs  whole,  and  the  inside  was  filled  with  a  pool  of  melted  fat, 
they  would  stoop  down  and  drink  it  the  same  as  water. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  to  be  stated;  they  do  not 
generally  live  on  animal  food,  few  taste  it  except  on  particular 
occasions,  when  pigs  are  killed  to  entertain  strangers  with ; 
but  this  is  a  comparatively  recent  custom,  since  the  use  of 
pork  is  derived  from  Europeans,  who  first  introduced  pigs 
amongst  them.  Previously,  fish  and  birds,  and  especially 
human  beings,  were  all  they  had,  in  addition  to  the  taro, 
kumara,  and  fern-root.  We  cannot  wonder,  when  their  diet 
was  so  entirely  vegetable,  that  they  should  occasionally  eat  to 
excess.  The  quantity  of  potatoes  which  a  native  consumes 
at  a  meal  is  very  great,  but  the  nourishment  they  contain  is 
small.  The  country  abounds  in  eels,  which  attain  an  immense 
size,  and  are  very  fat.  These  are  considered  great  delicacies, 
but  I  have  noticed  those  who  freely  eat  them  are  generally  ill 
afterwards.  Egypt  is  also  a  country  abounding  in  eels,  yet, 
Herodotus  states,  they  were  forbidden  as  food  ;  so  also  in  the 
Mosaic  law,  we  find  the  same  prohibition.  The  translator  of 
Herodotus  states,  that  the  probable  reason  was  their  having  a 
tendency  to  produce  scrofula ;  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  this 


EATING.  167 

is  the  prevailing  disease  of  the  Maoris  and  that  they  are  great 
eaters  of  the  eel.* 

The  natives  have  only  two  meals  a  day,  the  first  being  about 
ten,  the  other  at  sun-set,  or  a  little  earlier.  But  frequently 
in  those  months  when  food  is  scarce,  they  have  only  one,  and 
no  other  relish  for  their  potatoes  than  a  little  sow-thistle,  or 
wild  cabbage.     A  native  will  endure  hunger  very  patiently. 

Those  who  live  with  Europeans,  after  a  little  time,  are  not 
in  general  greater  eaters  than  ourselves. 

Though  extremely  dirty  in  their  persons,  the  natives  are 
cleanly  in  their  food,  which  is  served  up  in  baskets.  These 
are  neatly  and  expeditiously  made  by  the  females,  whilst  the 
food  is  being  cooked.  Guests  of  rank  have  each  his  fresh- 
made  basket  set  before  him,  and  when  the  meal  is  over,  they 
are  thrown  away  and  fresh  ones  made.  One  reason  appears 
to  have  been,  the  fear  of  witchcraft,  or  of  destroying  their 
tapu,  by  eating  out  of  a  basket  which  had  been  used  by  some 
one  else.  A  chief  never  ate  after  any  one,  or  allowed  any  one 
to  eat  after  him.  The  ren^ains  of  his  food,  with  the  basket 
which  contained  them,  was  thrown  into  a  wahi  tapu,  that  no 
one  might  obtain  any  portion  with  which  to  bewitch  him. 
Formerly  they  had  the  greatest  dread  of  witchcraft  by  means 
of  food.  When  a  great  chief  or  tohunga  took  his  food,  he 
might  frequently  be  seen  seated  within  a  little  fence  of  basket 
work,  or  else  in  a  corner  of  the  verandah,  apart  from  the  rest. 
In  general,  a  basket  is  placed  before  every  three  or  four  per- 
sons ;  it  is  filled  with  potatoes,  garnished  with  a  piece  of  meat,  a 
fish,  a  bird,  or  in  default  of  these,  with  a  little  sow-thistle  or  wild 
cabbage  ;  when  there  is  meat,  they  pass  it  round,  each  taking  a 
bite  or  tearing  off  a  portion  ;  and  when  the  meal  is  over,  they 
wipe  their  greasy  fingers  on  the  backs  of  the  attendant  dogs, 
as  their  serviettes,  whose  noses  are  generally  thrust  into  the 
basket  as  soon  as  the  last  hand  is  withdrawn.f 

*  Deaths  from  feasting  on  the  Pihapiharau,  or  Lamprey,  are  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

f  Vigne,  in  his  travels  in  Cashmere,  thus  describes  a  meal  given  him  by  the 
Rajah  of  Tira,  vol.  1,  page  109 :—'' They  did  not  eat  with  me  themselves,  but 
a  table  was  placed  for  me  beside  them,  and  they  talked  to  me  during  the  re-v 


168  EATING. 

Baskets  appear  to  have  been  used  in  a  similar  way  by  the 
ancient  Egyptians ;  they  are  represented  in  their  paintings^  as 
well  as  alluded  to  in  Scripture.  The  chief  baker  had  in 
his  dream  a  basket  of  bakemeats  for  Pharaoh ;  and  so  in 
Israel,  Jehu  commanded  the  elders  of  Jczreel  to  bring  him  the 
heads  of  Ahab's  sons  in  baskets ;  and  the  Israelite  was  blessed 
in  his  basket  and  store. 

Formerly,  they  were  often  much  pinched  for  food  in  winter; 
that  period  went  by  the  name  of  the  grumbling  months^  they 
had  no  other  name  for  them ;  they  were  blank  in  their  calendar, 
as  they  could  do  nothing  but  sit  in  their  smoky  huts,  with  eyes 
always  filled  with  tears. 

In  times  of  scarcity,  the  only  food  they  had  to  depend 
upon  was  fern-root  and  shell  fish.  The  traveller  is  often  sur- 
prised, as  he  journeys  along  the  coast,  by  the  large  heaps  of 
shells  which  he  sees  on  almost  every  mound  he  passes  ;  these 
are  records  of  bygone  scarcity,  and  frequently  he  will  find 
fragments  of  human  bones  mixed  with  them,  for  it  was  at  such 
times  that  the  least  offence  sufliced  to  cause  an  angry  and 
hungry  savage  to  knock  his  slave  on  the  head,  that  he  might 
satisfy  the  cravings  of  his  hunger.  It  is  remarkable  that  some 
natives  cannot  eat  the  pigeon,  when  it  feeds  on  the  young  leaves 
of  the  kowaiy  the  New  Zealand  laburnum  {Edwardsia  micro 
phylla);  the  Nga  ti  hine  kino,  a  hapu  of  the  Nga  ti  Ruaka,  a 
Wanganui  tribe,  are  said  to  have  weak  heads  (rahi  rahi)  and 
are  especially  adduced  as  an  example;  the  pigeon  at  such 
times  gives  them  violent  headaches,  though  other  persons  can 
eat  it  with  impunity. 

The  natives  are  now  gradually  acquiring  a  taste  for  European 
food,  and  some  have  quite  renounced  their  old  way  of  living. 

Some  years  ago,  Tamihana  te  Rauparaha  and  several  young 

pasty  which  was  served  up  in  dishes  made  of  dock  leaves,  sewn  together,  and 
my  drinking  cup  was  also  of  the  same  material.  The  Sikhs  are  less  particular 
in  these  matters  than  the  Hindus,  and  will  eat  twice,  and  odener,  out  of  the 
same  plate ;  but  the  Hindus,  more  especially  the  Brahmin  or  the  Rigpul>  will 
not  eat  twice  out  of  any  vessel  that  cannot  be  cleansed  with  earth :  when, 
therefore,  they  play  the  host,  the  Hindus  cause  their  dishes  to  be  made  of 
dock  leaves,  which  are  thrown  away  after  they  have  been  used." 


HAKARI.  169 

• 

chiefs  of  the  Ngatiraukawa  txibe  formed  a  kind  of  club  amongst 
themselves,  and  determined  to  give  up  their  native  customs, 
and  adopt  those  of  the  Europeans.  They  had  good  houses 
erected,  and  took  their  meals  in  the  same  way  we  do,  which 
they  have  persevered  in  doing,  and  this  has  become  a  great 
means  of  raising  their  tribe  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

The  hakariy  or  feast,  was  formerly  given  either  SLsaparemata, 
or  return  for  a  previous  one,  or  on  some  particular  occasion, 
such  as  a  marriage,  the  making  of  peace,  or  the  stirring  up  of  a 
war,  for  the  obtaining  of  help  either  to  build  a  house  or  make  a 
canoe,  or  to  hunt,  or  fish.  They  were  sometimes  given  by  indi- 
viduals, but  more  frequently  by  the  inhabitants  of  one  place  to 
those  of  another.  The  hakari  was  often  on  a  very  grand  scale, 
proportioned  to  the  wealth  and  influence  of  those  who  gave  it. 
Sometimes  a  number  of  poles  were  planted  in  the  ground, 
being  fifty  or  sixty  feet  high,  which  were  made  to  support 
eight  or  ten  stories,  heaped  up  with  baskets  of  food  to  the 
very  top.  At  other  times,  long  walls  of  kumara  were  erected ; 
these  were  made  with  the  greatest  care ;  they  were  generally 
about  five  feet  high,  as  many  broad,  and  were  crowned  with 
a  covering  of  pigs  roasted  whole.  Several  hundred  were  often 
thus  killed  for  a  single  feast,  or  else  their  place  was  supplied 
with  dried  fish,  and  with  what  is  considered  a  very  great 
delicacy,  birds,  or  pork  cut  up  in  small  pieces,  and  cooked  in 
their  own  fat :  these  are  packed  up  in  large  Az/a,  calabashes, 
or  in  ornamental  dishes,  made  of  the  bark  of  the  totara,  and 
tastefully  decorated  with  feathers,  they  are  called ^apa.  When 
the  guests  arrive  they  are  received  with  a  loud  welcome,  and 
afterwards  a  person,  who  acts  as  the  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
having  a  rod  in  his  hand,  marches  slowly  along  the  line  of 
food,  which  is  generally  placed  in  the  marae,  or  chief  court  of 
the  pa,  and  then  names  the  tribe  for  which  each  division  is 
intended,  striking  it  with  his  rod.  This  being  done,  the  chief 
of  that  party  receiving  the  food,  sub-divides  it  amongst  his 
followers.  The  food  is  then  carried  off* to  their  respective  homes. 
The  calabashes  are  often  tastefully  ornamented  with  carving, 
red  ochre,  and  feathers.  These  feasts  are  generally  political 
meetings ;  both  before  and  after  the  division  of  food,  many 


170  HAKARl. 

speeches  are  made,  the  speaker  walking  up  and  down  a  space 
left  for  him  by  the  crowd ;  he  only  speaks  as  he  goes  one  way, 
walking  back  in  silence,  and  as  he  became  animated,  he  moves 
with  increased  celerity.  On  the  occasion  of  a  marriage,  the 
friends  of  the  bridegroom  provide  the  feast  for  him,  and  those 
of  the  bride  for  her ;  but  the  two  do  not  eat  together.  When 
a  chief  intends  to  give  a  feast,  he  sends  some  member  of  his 
family  as  a  herald  to  summon  those  for  whom  it  is  intended. 
As  he  passes  through  each  village,  he  siogs,  Uea  tiea  i  te  pou 
o  tou  ahare.  Ha  wiriwiri,  kia  tutangatanga  wokairi  kapua  naku, 
ki  Tunga  moeahu  iaku  kira  ka  tongia  e  te  anu  matao  e  tahu 
e  —  nau  mat  e  icaka  i  iaku  tua  he  karere  taua,  he  karere 
wainga.  If  it  be  a  feast  to  invite  the  individuals  thus  sum- 
moned to  war,  the  words  ke  karere  taua  are  used ;  if  to  a 
feast  only,  the  words  he  karere  wainga  are  spoken.  If  those 
invited  do  not  wish  to  partake  of  the  feast,  Uiey  reply,  Pemt 
ki  taku  kaitiga,  e  kore  au  e  toe  atu  kahore  aku  paremata  tahi 
atu  ki  a  koe. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


AMUSEMEKT8. 


It  has  been  tboi^ht,  that  were  a  child  from  its  birth  to 
be  kept  from  hearing  the  sound  of  any  language,  it  would 
commence;^, with  the  tongue  which  was  spoken  by  the  first 
parents  of  the  human  race ;  but  this  has  not  been  verified — the 
child  was  found  to  have  none  at  all.  It  appears  more  reason- 
able to  find  a  proof  of  the  identity  of  our  race  iu  thought, 
rather  than  in  sound  ;  the  latter  varying  from  physical  causes, 
which  may  affect  the  body  without  influencing  the  mind. 
The  early  feelings  of  the  child  appear  to  furnish  a  better  guide 
to  what  is  really  common  to  all,  and  if  we  can  trace  an  identity 
of  amusements  in  parts  which  are  so  remote  and  severed  from 


172  AMUSEMENTS. 

each  otiicr  as  England  and  New  Zealand,  we  cannot  well  help 
allowing  that  this  identity  of  amusements  is  likewise  a  strong 
proof  of  the  identity  of  our  common  origin.  I  remember, 
as  a  child,  joining  in  the  pursuit  of  an  unfortunate  white 
butterfly,  which  we  called  a  Frenchman  ;  and  in  after  years, 
in  France,  I  was  much  struck  by  seeing  a  number  of  children 
knock  down  a  red  butterfly,  a  poor  queen  of  the  meadows, 
with  the  cry,  Down  with  the  English,  down  with  the  Eng- 
lish. But  this  is  not  so  remarkable  as  our  finding  games 
and  pursuits  of  children  similar  to  our  own  in  such  lone 
islands  of  the  southern  hemisphere  as  New  Zealand. 

Te  Kdfiu^  or  He  manu  waka-tuku-tukuy  He  pakau. — The 
first  game  presenting  this  similarity,  is  that  of  flying  the  kite, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  their  name  appears  to  be  drawn  from 
the  same  object  as  ours.  The  kite  is  the  old  term  for  the 
hawk,  and  the  name  kahu  is  also  that  of  the  same  kind 
of  bird.  Their  figure,  also,  though  differing  from  ours,  is 
generally  a  rough  imitation  of  the  bird,  with  its  great  out- 
spread wings ;  these  kites  are  frequently  made  of  very  large  di- 
mensions of  raupo  leaves,  a  kind  of  sedge,  neatly  sewn  together, 
and  kept  in  shape  by  a  slight  frame-work ;  the  string  is  most 
expeditiously  formed,  and  lengthened  at  pleasure,  being 
merely  the  split  leaves  of  the  flax  plant:  this  is  a  very 
favourite  amusement. 

He  paro. — He  potaka. — He  kaihora, — He  kaihotaka. — The 
whipping-top,  is  another  game  which  is  played  in  every  part 
of  the  island ;  tlie  top  used  is  more  of  a  cone,  and  of  less 
diameter  than  our  English  one,  but  in  other  respects  is  just 
the  same. 

He  whai^  or  mauu — The  cat's-cradles,  is  a  game  very  similar 
to  our  own,  but  the  cord  is  made  to  assume  many  more 
forms,  and  these  are  said  to  be  different  scenes  in  their 
mythology,  such  as  Hine-nui-te-po,  mother  night  bringing 
forth  her  progeny,  Mam  and  the  gods,  and  Maui  fishing  up 
the  land.  Men,  canoes,  houses,  &c.,  are  also  represented. 
Some  state  that  Maui  invented  this  game. 

He  piu. — The  skipping-rope.  Two  generally  hold  the  rope, 
and  a  third  skips  over  it;  sometimes  they  tie  one  end  to  a  post 


AMUSEMENTS.  173 

and  another  twirls  the  rope,  while  several  jump  over  at  the 
same  time :  it  is  also  used  by  one  person,  the  same  as  with  us. 

He  mover e. — He  inoari. — This  is  a  lofty  pole,  generally 
erected  near  a  river,  from  the  top  of  which  about  a  dozen 
ropes  are  attached ;  the  parties  who  use  it  take  hold  of  them, 
and  swing  round,  going  over  the  precipice,  and,  whilst  doing  so, 
sometimes  let  go,  falling  into  the  water  ;  occasionally  serious 
accidents  have  thus  occurred,  by  striking  the  bank. 

Te  takaro  ringaringa,  or  wrestUng,  was  a  very  general 
amusement  of  young  men,  who  prided  themselves  on  their 
skill  in  throwing  one  another,  as  much,  perhaps,  as  our  own 
countrymen  have  ever  done. 

Te  para  mako  consisted  in  throwing  sharp-pointed  sticks 
at  each  other,  and  skilfully  warding  them  off,  by  turning  the 
body  away  when  they  saw  the  dart  coming.  Sometimes  an 
unskilful  person  lost  his  life  in  playing  this  game. 

Te  para,  or  para  toitoi,  was  a  more  harmless  game ;  it 
consisted  in  throwing  the  reed-like  stalks  of  the  toitoi,  blunted, 
at  each  other  ;  this  was  a  boy's  game. 

Te  taurumaki,  variously  called  taururumaki  or  taurumaki^ 
makiy  is  played  in  the  water,  and  consists  in  one  person  trying 
to  keep  the  other  under  the  longest;  one  was  frequently 
almost  drowned  by  the  other. 

Te  teka,  or  neti,  is  a  game  played  with  fern  stalks,  which 
are  darted  to  see  who  can  throw  them  the  furthest. 

He  a,  or  tii,  is  a  game  played  with  the  fingers ;  also  the 
komukomij  which  consisted  in  opening  and  shutting  the  thumbs 
and  fingers. 

The  puni  punt  is  a  game  played  with  the  fingers  whilst  the 
following  words  were  sung : — 

Kci  te  wai  nui,  By  the  great  water, 

Kei  te  wai  roa,  By  the  long  water, 

Ka  tangi  te  korora,  kororo,  The  seagull  cries,  the  penguin, 

Awhe  te  puni  puni,  Where  is  the  entering, 

Awhe  te  pare  paro.  Where  is  the  closing, 

Anohoanga.  For  the  resting. 

If  the  fingers  enter  each  other  whilst  these  words  are  being 
uttered,  the  game  is  ended ;  if  not,  this  is  again  repeated. 


174  AMUSEMENTS. 

Tutu  kai, — A  circle  being  formed,  one  takes  a  little  stone, 
or  anything  else,  in  his  hand,  and  then  another  repeats  :  — 

Kura,  kura,  kura  winiwini ;  Listen,  listen,  where  is  the  stone; 

Kura  wanawana,  ;  Listen,  in  what  hand  is  it  hid ; 

Te  wai  atu,  takukai  nei ;  Seek  where  it  is  hid ; 

Ki  te  kai  motiti,  kite  kai  motata ;  Seek  for  the  stone. 

Ka  rere  taua  ki  hca  ?  Where  shall  we  go  ? 

Ka  rere  taua  ki  pohou  nui,  We  will  go  to  the  many, 

Ki  pohou  roa,  hei  te  koti,  To  the  multitude, 

Hei  te  kota,  toreti,  toreta.  To  the  Ti,  to  the  Ta. 

Kai  a  wai.  Tell  me,  tell  me, 

With  whom  is  it  to  be  found. 

A  person  then  goes  round  the  circle,  and  guesses  in  whose 
hand  it  is  hid,  each  having  his  fist  closed ;  if  he  is  right,  the 
person  who  has  the  stone,  takes  his  place,  and  goes  round ;  if 
he  is  wrong,  he  continues  until  he  discovers  where  it  is  hid. 

Se  waka  pupuni,  or  piri,  is  the  game  of  hide  and  seek  ;  it 
is  very  similar  to  our  own. 

Se  poi. — This  is  a  game  played  with  an  ornamented  ball, 
causing  it  to  revolve  by  a  small  string  attached,  and  singing  at 
the  same  time.  The  ball  is  often  sent  to  a  pa,  and  played  as 
an  invitation  to  join  in  a  war  expedition. 

He  haka, — The  dance  was  also  a  favourite  amusement. 
There  were  various  kinds,  many  of  which  were  very  indecent; 
some  were  only  danced  by  females,  others  by  men,  but  in 
general  both  sexes  joined  in  this  amusement. 

Te  Ko  kiri  is  an  amusement  of  diving  by  closing  the  legs 
and  arms,  and  then  sinking  in  deep  water,  feet  foremost.  I 
have  seen  a  native  thus  drop  down  over  the  side  of  the  canoe 
to  a  great  depth  and  pick  up  with  his  toes  a  tobacco  pipe  he 
had  noticed  at  the  bottom,  using  them  as  readily  as  his  fingers. 

Te  Ko  kiri  also  is  a  jumping  from  a  pole  into  deep  water : 
before  doing  so  the  party  says : — 

Puhi  puhi  rawa  kite  keriru ;     Flutter  like  pigeons'  feathers; 
Mehemea  e  kato  ana,  ko  kiri    And  if  the  water  be  calm,  dart  down- 
wards. 

There  was  also  the  turupepeke,  or  tumbling  head  over  heels ; 
the  walking  with  stilts,  pouturu  ;  the  rouroUy  a  game  played 


TIME.  175 

with  stones  in  the  hands ;  the  kai  is  a  puzzle  to  undo  a  knot, 
or  find  out  a  riddle ;  and  many  similar  ones. 

*  But  the  chief  amusement  of  the  females  was,  and  still  is  the 
tangi,  or  crying.  The  ladies  priding  themselves  on  their  doing 
this  in  the  most  affecting  v/Uy,  so  that  a  stranger  would  be 
deceived,  and  not  think  it  possible  that  it  could  be  a  mere 
mockery  of  woe,  and  yet  it  is  nothing  more ;  tears  are  shed  in 
abundance,  and  the  hands  are  wrung,  as  if  suffering  the  most 
poignant  grief,  whilst  the  most  heart-rending  cries  excite  the 
sympathy  of  the  company.  The  ladies  have  their  heads  adorned 
with  fillets  of  leaves,  or  of  dog's  hair,  and  so  much  joy  do  they 
experience  in  this  exciting  amusement,  that  they  look  forward 
to  a  good  crying  vrith  the  same  desire  a  young  lady  in  England 
does  to  a  dance  or  ball. 

When  a  distinguished  party  of  strangers  arrives  at  a  pa, 
before  they  enter,  the  females  ascend  some  stage  or  elevated 
spot,  and  from  it  they  wave  a  garment  or  branch,  loudly  in- 
viting their  visitors  to  enter,  with  the  cry  haere  mai^  haere 
mai,  or  nau  maiy  nau  mat.  They  walk  to  the  chief  marae  or 
court,  and  then  the  tangi  commences ;  after  it  is  concluded, 
the  strangers  rub  noses  with  the  inhabitants,  or  else  speeches 
are  made  first,  afterwards  food  is  brought  in  procession  by  the 
inhabitants  in  little  baskets,  each  carrying  one  in  his  right 
hand,  stretched  out,  with  the  left  thrown  back,  all  singing  the 
Putu,  or  song  of  invitation,  as  they  advance  towards  their 
guests,  before  whom  they  place  the  feast,  and  this  concluded 
the  entertainment. 

The  New  Zealanders,  in  former  times,  had  no  names  for  the 
different  days,  but  only  for  the  nights ;  for  it  was  by  moons 
they  counted  Time.  Perhaps  this  arose  from  the  idea  that 
it  was  in  the  night  everything  grew.     They  have  therefore 


*  The  natiyes  have  another  amusement,  which  consists  in  rendering  their 
conversation  unintelligible  to  strangers,  by  adding  one  or  more  letters  to  each 
word  as  they  may  previously  agree  upon.  So  that  only  they  who  are  in  the 
secret,  can  understand  what  is  said :  thus,  instead  of  saying  kei  te  haere  au 
ki  reira,  they  would  say  te-ke-te-\  te  te-hae-f«-re  te-SL-te-u  te-ki  te-re-te-i-te- 
ra:  few  can  find  this  out  when  spoken  quick.     This  is  called  ffe  KoweUwete. 


176  TIME. 

names  for  the  different  nights  of  the  moon ;  for  they  were 
indeed  the  children  of  the  night,  and  not  of  the  day,  and 
in  this  respect  resembled  the  other  islanders  of  the  South 
Seas,  who  had  a  similar  way  of  reckoning  time.  But  it 
appears  remarkable  that  they  should  not  have  a  single  name 
for  any  day  in  the  year.  It  is  also  a  proof  of  their  common 
origin,  that  many  of  these  names  are  the  same  in  the 
islands,  and  that  there  is  not  a  greater  difference  between 
them  and  those  of  New  Zealand,  than  there  is  between  those 
of  the  various  tribes  of  New  Zealand. 

These  names  also  denote  the  state  of  the  tide. 

They  chiefly  counted  the  moons  by  different  stars  as  they 
were  in  the  ascendant. 

Summer  is  named  Raumati^  from  its  being  the  season  when 
the  leaves  fall;  there  being  but  one  deciduous  tree  in  New 
Zealand,  the  ko  hutuhutu,  or  New  Zealand  fuschia,  which 
sheds  its  leaves  in  winter;  for,  if  any  thing,  the  forest  is  more 
verdant  in  winter  than  summer. 

Winter  is  called  Hotoke,  or  the  season  when,  from  the  in- 
creased moisture,  the  earth  gives  up  its  worms,  which  formerly 
were  highly  prized  as  food,  some  attaining  a  very  large  size. 

Since  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  natives  have 
given  particular  names  to  three  of  the  week  days,  which  are 
now  generally  used  throughout  the  country.  According  to 
their  nomenclature,  Sunday  is  called  Te  Wiki,  most  probably 
because  the  week  commences  with  that  day,  which  thus,  by 
way  of  distinction,  is  designated  the  week.  Saturday  is  named 
Te  ra  horoiy  or  the  washing  and  cleaning-up  day,  from  their 
noticing  this  custom  in  all  European  houses  of  thus  employing 
that  day.  Friday  is  called  Te  ra  oka,  or  the  bleeding  day. 
I  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  discover  the  origin  of  this 
name,  but  I  found  that  it  is  derived  from  the  European  custom 
of  killing  their  pigs  on  the  Friday,  so  as  to  have  time  to  cut 
them  up  on  the  Saturday,  and  dispose  of  them  before  the 
Sabbath.  The  custom  of  bleeding  animals,  which  is  or  ought 
to  be  general  amongst  us  as  Christians,  struck  the  natives 
with  the  greatest  astonishment,  that  the  blood  which  they 
esteem  so  highly,  should  thus  be  wasted.     They  have  there- 


TIME.  177 

fore  commemorated  the  circumstance  by  giving  the  name  of 
Te  ra  oka^  to  this  pig-killing  day.  The  remaining  days  of 
the  week  still  preserve  their  naturalized  names^  viz»^  Manei, 
Turei,  Wenerei,  Tairei, 

Nights  of  the  Moon. 

1 .  Noni  hape — The  moon  is  in  the  Reinga. 

2.  Taka  taka  putei — ^The  moon  revolyes  in  the  Beinga  or  Hades. 

3.  Wttika  raua — ^It  hegins  to  ascend  from  the  Reinga. 

4.  He  oho  ata — The  moon  is  visihle. 

5.  Ouenuku — ^It  begins  to  rise  a  little  way. 

6.  Maweti — ^It  rises  still  higher. 

7.  Tutahi — ^It  grows  larger. 

8.  Otama — ^Ditto. 

9.  He  pa — When  the  sun  is  rising  over  the  hiUsy  and  the  moon  is 

still  seen,  it  is  called  Kepa  ha  moe  tahi  me  tana  wahine  me 
haere  ahiahu  (The  natives  make  the  moon  a  gentleman,  and 
the  sun  a  lady.) 

10.  He  art. 

\\.  He  hune. 

12.  Mawaru. 

13.  He  hua. 

14.  HeattM^Yjill. 

15.  He  hiohio. 

16.  He  rakau  nui — Small  tides. 

17.  Rakaumatohi. 

18.  ^  takirau. 

19.  He  Ohik4i — The  moon  begins  to  wane. 

20.  He  kore  kore. 

21.  He  kore  kore  tutahi. 

22.  He  kore  kore  wakapou 

23.  Tangaroa  a  mtta. 

24.  Tangaroa  a  roto — It  sinks  into  the  sea. 

25.  He  kiokio. 

26.  He  otane. 

27.  He  rongo  mat. 

28.  He  mouri. 

He  0  mutu — ^The  moon  disappears. 

The  year  is  counted  by  moons,  and  the  nights  of  each 
are  divided  into   three  decades,  or  thirty-six  for  the  year. 

N 


178  TIME. 

These  are  regulated  by  the  stars.    The  year  begins  with  May, 
which  is  also  the  first  winter  month. 

1.  May — ^The  following  stars  are  in  the  ascendant: — ^Kai-waka, 

Patu-tahi,  Matariki,  Puanga. 

2.  June — Mata-riki,  Tapuapua,  "Waka  ahu-te-ra  o  Tainui. 

3 .  July — "Waka-ahu-nuku,  Waka-ahu-rangi,  Waka-ahu-papa,  Waka- 

ahu-kerekere,  Kopu,  and  Tautoru. 

4.  August — Taka-pou-poto,  Mangere,  Kaiwaka.  The  karaka  and  the 

hou  flower.    Spring  commences.     The  warauroa  (a  cuckoo) 
arrives. 

5.  September — Takapou-tawahi.     It  begins  to  be  warm;  cultiva- 

tion commences.    The  kowai,  kotukutuku,  and  rangiora  flower. 
A  rainy  month. 

6.  October — ^The  kumara  is  planted.  The  windy  month  corresponds 

with  our  March;  hence  the  saying,  te  ra  kihi,  the  noisy  or  windy 
period,  the  tawera  is  ripe.     The  koekoea  (a  cuckoo)  arrives. 

7.  November — Te  Wakumu.     The  retcarewa  flowers. 

8.  December — Nga  Tapuae.     The  rata  flowers. 

9.  January — ^Uruao.    iT^T^ro^  is  ripe. — Ranga  whenua  (an  ancestor) 

rules  the  days,  and  Uruao(the  star)rule8  the  nights  of  this  month. 

10.  February — Rehua.     The  dry  month — a  scarce  month. 

11.  March — ^Nga  hum.     Harvest  month  for  kumara. 

12.  April — Te  Kabui-rua-mahu.     The  days  begin  to  be  cold.    The 

cuckoo  leaves. 

Matariki  is  the  great  winter  star,  and  Rehua  that  of  summer. 

The  arrival  of  the  two  birds  of  passage,  the  kohoperoa,  or  koekoea, 
and  the  pipiwarauroa,  are  the  signs  of  summer.  They  are  called  the 
birds  of  Hawaiki,  or  warm  country. 

The  four  seasons  arc — 

Ko  Toru,  ko  Tahi,  ko  Takarua,  August,  September,  October 
(spring). 

Haumati,  November,  December,  January  (summer). 

NgahurUy  February,  March,  April  (autumn). 

ITotoke,  May,  June,  July  (winter.) 

Raumati  or  summer  takes  its  name  from  its  being  the  season 
when  the  leaves  of  the  forest  fall.  There  is  only  one 
deciduous  tree  in  New  Zealand  which  sheds  its  leaves  in 
winter,  the  Ko  tuku  tuku  (Fuschia  Excortica.) 

Hotoke  or  winter  is  the  season  when  the  earth  gives  forth  its 
worms,  which  were  once  eagerly  sought  after  as  food. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

ORIGIN,  AS  TRACED  BY  THE  LANaUAQE. 

One  of  tlie  principal  aids  in  discovering  the  Origin  of  a  remote 
and  isolated  race,  like  that  of  the  New  Zealander,  must  be  lan- 
guage ;  it  is  an  historical  record,  which  cannot  be  falsified.  As 
we  can  recognize  a  friend  by  his  voice,  though  his  person  may 
be  concealed,  so  may  we  identify  a  people  by  their  language. 
The  word  Maori,  which  they  apply  to  themselves  as  their 
peculiar  name,  signifies  anything  that  is  native  or  indigenous. 
Maori  has  precisely  the  same  meaning  as  the  word  Moor,  and 
a  singular  resemblance  to  it,  especially  to  the  more  ancient 
one  of  Mauri.  The  root  of  the  word  is  uri,  which  means 
dark.  Hence  Mauri  is  the  heart,  the  dark  blood,  and  uri  is 
the  root  of  many  other  words.  Pouri,  darkness ;  kokouri, 
v2 


180  ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED   BY   THE   LANGUAGE. 

dark,  over-hanging  cloud ;  wheuri,  dark  deep  water ;  tua  uri 
uri,  blackening  masses,  dark  clouds  ;  kakarauri,  getting  dark, 
dusk ;  kauri,  the  kauri  pine,  most  probably  derived  from  the 
rezin  which,  when  burnt  for  tattooing,  is  black.  But  uri  also 
signifies  offspring;  the  uri  Tangata,  the  beginning  of  man, 
is  lost  in  darkness. 

There  are  two  other  African,  words  identical  with  New 
Zealand  ones,  which  may  be  alluded  to  without  endeavouring 
to  draw  any  inference  from  them.  One  is  door,  the  Siloe  of 
Morocco ;  it  is  a  cave  made  in  the  earth  to  keep  wheat  in,  and 
is  entered  by  a  small  door  or  opening  on  the  top,  which  is  closed 
by  a  large  stone  or  block  of  wood.  This  is  precisely  the 
description  of  the  New  Zealand  dud  or  rua,  which  is  made  to 
hold  the  kumara. 

The  New  Zealand  word  for  the  sun  is  ra*  The  Coptic  one 
is  the  same;  the  Egyptian  rah;  and  hence,  perhaps,  the  origin  of 
the  East  Indian  word  Rajah  Maha.  The  great  rajah  or  prince, 
Maha,  is  a  New  2^aland  word  for  a  multitude ;  the  sun  being 
the  light  of  heaven,  the  prince  that  of  the  multitude.  So  the 
New  Zealand  word  rangatira,  or  chief,  when  dissected,  is 
ra-nga-tira,  which  simply  means  the  light  of  companies,  or 
assemblies  of  men. 

There  is  another  New  Zealand  word  of  great  interest,  being 
a  root  of  many,  and  bearing  an  analogy  to  words  of  almost 
every  language,  that  is  ka,  to  burn ;  we  have  it  in  our  word 
candle,  and  in  the  Latin  from  whence  we  obtained  it, 
andj  perhaps,  in  the  old  word  kindle;  it  is  seen  in  racw;  in 
Tartary,  and  throughout  the  East,  even  to  China,  in  kang,  an 
oven  or  stove ;  and  in  the  khan,  an  edifice  erected  for  the 
warmth  and  shelter  of  the  wayworn  traveller ;  in  kapura,  fire, 
which  implies  the  substitute  for  the  light  of  day.  In  kakano 
(seed)  which  contains  the  germ  of  life ;  and  in  kai  (food)  the 
fuel  that  sustains  the  flame  of  life. 

This  word  is  also  connected  with  another  of  great  interest, 
and  one  which  stands  out  as  a  landmark  to  guide  us  in  the 
search  after  the  origin  of  the  New  Zealand  race,  and  that  is 
kava.    In  old  Arabic,  the  word  for  wine  is  kahweh,*  and  before 

*  See  ZafM*«  Egypt, 


ORIGIN^   AS  TRACED   BY   THE   LANOUAGE.  181 

we  proceed  further,  we  must  show  that  this  is  a  Maori  com- 
pound word,  bearing  a  most  appropriate  meaning  for  any 
intoxicating  beverage,  being  the  substance  that  burns  and 
carries  off  the  senses.  Ka  we  have  already  considered  ;  in  va 
or  weh  we  have  the  Latin  vehoy  Sanscrit  wahana,  English  wain, 
waggon,  and  the  simple  root  in  Maori  wa,  to  carry.* 

But  to  return,  from  kahweh  wine,  we  have  kahveh,  Turkish, 
for  the  Italian  caffe  and  English  coffee.  But  what,  it  might 
be  asked,  has  this  to  do  with  wine  ?  A  great  deal,  for  when 
Mahomet  forbad  his  followers  the  use  of  the  one,  they  found 
out  a  substitute  in  the  other ;  and,  therefore,  they  naturally 
transferred  the  word  for  wine  to  it.  The  false  prophet  propa- 
gated his  faith,  not  with  the  sword  of  the  Word,  but  of  steel, 
and  wherever  he  went,  he  carried  his  law  and  institutions  with 
him.  How  far  west  did  his  faith  prevail  ?  even  to  the  pillars 
of  Hercules.  Europe  itself  was  threatened  ;  its  fairest  parts 
fell  under  the  sway  of  his  followers.  The  Bysantine  throne 
itself  was  ascended,  and  Spain  for  many  years  was  the  abode 
of  the  Moor.  So  also  in  tlie  East,  Persia,  Central  Asia,  India, 
and  even  the  remote  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  and 
Polynesia,  bowed  to  the  crescent  Therefore,  we  shall  not 
be  surprised  to  find  kahweh  preserved  in  the  word  kava, 
the  intoxicating  bev^age  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  their 
substitute  for  wine  and  coffee,  which  in  their  successive  migra- 
tions from  island  to  island,  they  lost,  but  the  name  they  retained. 
And  thus,  when  they  reached  New  Zealand,  the  word  is  still 
preserved,  in  the  kawa  kawa,  the  piper  excelsum,  or  pepper 
tree  of  New  Zealand,  and  perhaps  in  the  casava  of  America. 

The  name  for  a  girl  is  Hine;  but  when  old  enough  to 
become  a  bearer  of  burthens  (poor  woman's  province)  she  is  a 
wa  hine ;  so  when  she  is  a  mother  and  has  to  carry  a  child, 
not  in  her  arms  but  on  her  shoulders,  the  Maori  way,  she  is  a 
waea,  a  waene  or  e  wae,  and  her  offspring  are  wanau,  and  her 
burthens  also  are  called  wahanga. 

*  Having  no  vehicle,  it  is  applied  to  burthens  carried  on  the  shoulder. 
In  Tahaiti,  royalty  itself  was  carried  on  the  shoulders ;  regidar  relays  of  men 
being  appointed,  as  soon  as  one  grew  tired,  the  royal  burthen  vaulted  from 
one  pair  of  shoulders  to  another. 


182  ORIOINy    AS  TRACED   BY   THE   LANGUAGE. 

Another  remarkable  word  for  its  travels  is  Paradise.  Every 
nation  has  pictured  to  itself  some  place  of  bliss,  some  abode  of 
rest  for  the  soul.  Men  vary  in  their  idea  of  the  character  of 
that  happy  spot,  but  still  the  idea  exists,  and  all  of  them  are 
included  between  the  extremes  of  the  sensual  paradise  of 
Mahomet,  and  the  spiritual  and  holy  one  of  the  Christian. 
The  word  paradise  itself  conveys  the  idea  of  a  garden  enclosed, 
a  garden  of  delight ;  it  is  the  place  of  repose,  it  is  protected 
from  every  foe ;  no  enemy  can  enter,  or  disturb  the  rest  of 
the  soul.  The  Hebrew  word  is  pardes ;  the  Arabic  Jirdaus^ 
plural  faradua ;  Syriac  and  Armenian  paries  ;  and  Sanscrit 
pradisa,  or  paradisa,  a  circuit  or  district ;  Jirdusi^  Persian, 
a  pleasure  garden  ;  Ilapa^ecffoc,  an  enclosed  garden,  paradise ; 
it  is  seen  in  the  English  words  park  and  pale^  and  is  preserved 
in  parae,  New  Zealand,  a  small  plain  enclosed  with  forest.  The 
simple  root  of  all  these  words  appears  to  be  Pa,  to  obstruct, 
hence  Taie-pa  or  Pa-korokoro,  are  fences  for  farms;  Rai  he-pa 
and  Parepare  are  fortifications  for  towns ;  and  the  same  root 
is  found  in  the  New  Zealand  word  pare,  to  ward  off,  and  in 
the  English  parry. 

We  next  suppose  the  canoes  of  the  first  colonists  of  New 
Zealand  have  reached  its  shores ;  wearied  with  their  long 
voyage,  they  gladly  step  on  shore,  and  anxiously  they  look 
around  to  supply  the  cravings  of  hunger.  Reduced  to  the 
greatest  extremities,  we  may  imagine  they  would  lose  no  time 
in  ascertaining  what  were  the  edible  products  of  the  country 
they  had  reached.  One  of  the  first  objects  which  would  arrest 
their  attention  when  they  entered  the  luxuriant  forest  of  their 
newly-discovered  home,  would  be  the  palm  tree ;  coming  from 
the  simny  isles,  whose  beauteous  shores  are  fringed  with  the 
cocoa  nut  trees,  which  mainly  supplied  them  with  food,  the 
palm  would  immediately  arrest  their  attention,  and  excite  their 
hopes,  that  they  had  found  the  well-known  tree.  The  name 
for  the  cocoa  palm  in  most  of  the  isles  of  Polynesia,  is  ni  ;  in 
the  Brumer  isles,  niu.  When  they  found  to  their  disappoint- 
ment that  the  New  Zealand  palm  did  not  produce  fruit,  they 
would  naturally  exclaim,  it  only  bears  leaves,  and  that  is 
precisely  the  meaning  of  its  name  ni-kau,  only  leaves.     The 


ORIGIN^    AS  TRACED   BY  THE   LANGUAGE.  183 

niu  of  the  Brumer  isles,  signifies  the  tree  producing  milk,  u 
being  milk,  that  is,  the  true  cocoa  nut.  But  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  we  should  find  other  proofs  of  their  search 
after  food,  and  we  have  them.  Uwhi  or  ufi^  the  yam  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  is  given  to  a  small  one  that  is  indigenous 
to  New  Zealand,  and  to  the  root  of  a  fern,  which  is  also 
edible,  and  slightly  resembling  in  form  the  yam.  The  uri, 
the  fruit  of  the  kiekie  ;  the  largest  New  Zealand  fruit,  is  also 
the  name  of  the  bread  fruit.  The  /»,  (dracena  Australis,)  is  a 
name  common  to  all  the  isles ;  it  produces  a  long  fleshy  tap  root 
like  a  carrot,  and  was  formerly  much  used  as  food.  Nearly  all 
the  names  of  edible  substances  are  identical  with  those  of  the 
islands.  The  taro,  the  kumara,  the  hue,  many  of  the  trees 
which  resemble  those  of  the  isles  they  left,  bear  the  same 
names ;  thus  we  have  the  aka,  the  hutu,  mai,  miro,  rata,  and 
wau.  Pot  is  the  New  Zealand  word  for  a  ball,  this  in  Tahaiti 
is  also  the  name  of  the  bread  fruit  when  made  up  into  balls. 
This  valuable  fruit  is  not  known  in  the  colder  climate  of  New 
Zealand,  but  the  word  remains. 

The  pigeon  bears  two  names,  the  kuku  and  kukupa,  which 
are  common  to  the  isles ;  so  also  is  that  of  the  ruru  (owl).  The 
only  animals  there  known  have  similar  names :  kiore  (rat)  and 
kuri  (dog).  The  kuku  (muscle),  a  shell-fish  universally  eaten, 
is  generally  known  by  the  same  name.  But  it  is  not  necessary 
to  carry  this  list  of  identical  names  further ;  it  applies  to 
plants,  stones,  insects,  implements,  manners,  customs,  mytho- 
logy, gods,  in  fact  to  everything,  for  the  language  itself  is 
radically  the  same,  and  clearly  shows  that  the  Polynesians 
form  one  grand  family.  And  whilst  it  is  evident,  from  the 
greater  or  less  variation  existing,  of  the  more  recent  or 
remote  connection  of  one  with  another,  it  does  not  diminish 
the  probability  of  their  having  had  a  common  origin. 

There  is  another  word  which  we  seem  to  recognize  in  the 
Turkish  hookah,  which  is  the  same  in  substance,  I  believe, 
with  the  meerschaum  and  ecume  de  mere ;  huka  is  the  New 
Zealand  word  for  the  froth  of  the  sea.  When  the  New  Zea- 
landers  arrived,  they  then  saw  snow  for  the  first  time,  which 
to  them  would  appear  more  like  the  froth  of  the  sea  than  any- 


184  ORIGIN^   AS  TRACED   BY   THE   LANGUAGE. 

thing  else ;  they  naturally  applied  that  word  to  it,  and  called  it 
huka.  It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  Malay  is  the 
grand  progenitor  of  the  Maori ;  but  I  do  not  see  on  what 
grounds,  beyond  the  resemblance  of  a  very  few  words.  The 
affinity  between  the  Maori  and  Sanscrit  is  much  closer,  as  well 
as  their  customs ;  the  widow  sacrificing  her  life  at  the  husband^s 
death  is  a  remarkable  agreement.  The  figures  sculptured  on 
the  caves  of  Elora  and  Salsette  bear  a  singular  resemblance  to 
the  Maori  hei  tiki  in  their  form. 

The  New  Zealanders  are  decidedly  a  mixed  race ;  some 
have  woolly  hair,  others  brown  or  flaxen ;  some  are  many 
shades  darker  than  others.*  The  peculiar  features  of  the 
Tartar  are  also  very  common ;  the  oblique  eye,  the  yellow 
countenance,  the  remarkable  depression  of  the  space  between 
the  eyes,  so  that  there  is  no  rise  in  the  nose,  seem  clearly  to 
indicate  that  some  portion  at  least  of  the  race  is  of  Chinese  or 
Japanese  descent ;  and  this  supposition  is  strongly  supported 
by  a  similarity  of  custom  in  chiefs  tying  up  their  hair  in  a  top 
knot.  The  natives  now  copy  us,  as  being  a  more  highly  civilized 
race  than  themselves.  This  would  naturally  have  been  the 
same,  had  any  number  of  the  Chinese  or  Japanese  arrived 
amongst  them.  Hence  the  chiefs  adopted  the  top  knot  as  a 
sign  of  higher  rank.  This  resemblance  seems  to  have  struck 
Tasman  most  forcibly ;  in  describing  them,  he  says,  "  They 
were  of  a  color  between  brown  and  yellow,  their  hair  long 
and  almost  as  thick  as  that  of  the  Japanese,  combed  up  and 
fixed  with  a  quill,  or  some  such  thing,  in  the  very  same  manner 
as  the  Japanese  fastened  their  hair  behind  their  heads.''  About 
the  year  1839,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Church  Mission, 
when  paying  a  visit  to  the  district  of  Wangaree,  found  a  party 
of  natives  sitting  r^und  a  fire,  where  they  were  cooking 
potatoes  in  an  old-fashioned  bell.  Being  much  struck  with 
the  singularity  of  the  circumstance,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
appearance  of  the  bell,  he  inquired  into  the  way  they  became 

*  So  dark  are  some  of  these  natives,  that  they  are  joked  by  others  as  being 
Pokerekahu,  which  is  a  name  for  a  very  black  kind  of  kumara ;  in  fact,  they 
have  many  terms  of  reproach  amongst  themselves  for  these  dark  persons, 
such  as  kiwakiwa,  pangopango,  signifying  bUck. 


ORIGIN^    AS  TRACED   BY  THE   LANGXTAGE.  185 

possessed  of  it.  The  account  he  received  was,  that  some 
years  before  a  great  storm  threw  down  a  large  tree,  and  dis- 
closed this  old  bell  under  its  roots,  and  that  they  had  constantly 
used  it  as  a  pot  to  boil  their  potatoes  in,  stopping  up  a  hole 
where  the  ring  of  the  clapper  had  been  fixed  with  a  potatoe. 
The  bell  was  immediately  purchased,  and  I  had  the  gratification 
of  seeing  it ;  the  rim  was  jagged,  as  if  the  outer  one  had  been 
broken  off,  which  was  most  probably  the  case,  as  it  appeared 
to  be  far  too  shallow  for  its  width  :  there  was  a  legend  round 
it,  which  appeared  to  be  Japanese,  the  characters  being  too 
square  and  regular  for  Chinese. 

There  is,  therefore,  good  reason  to  suppose,  that  at  least 
one  junk,  if  not  more,  has  reached  New  Zealand,  and  imparted 
a  character  to  their  race,  as  well  as  an  influence  to  their 
customs.  That  the  neighbouring  tribes  would  endeavour  to 
obtain  the  alliance  of  a  more  civilized  people  than  themselves, 
and  secure  them  to  strengthen  their  tribes  by  giving  them  their 
daughters  in  marriage  seems  highly  probable.  These  strangers, 
too,  may  have  introduced  some  articles  of  food  as  well  as  their 
customs,  and  thus  proved  a  blessing  to  them.  It  is  a  question 
whether  they  did  not  introduce  the  art  of  weaving,  which  seems 
to  be  carried  to  greater  perfection  than  we  could  reasonably 
expect  them  to  have  been  capable  of.  I  am  not  aware  that  either 
in  Tahaiti  or  Hawaii  they  had  attained  to  a  similar  degree.  The 
general  clothing  of  the  islands  being  the  tapatapa,  cloth  made 
from  the  bark  of  trees,  chiefly  the  wau  (or  paper  mulberry),  and 
though  the  making  of  that  cloth  has  long  ceased,  yet  tradi- 
tionally, it  was  once  made  in  New  Zealand.  The  name  is 
preserved  in  the  ante,  from  which  ribbons  were  formed,  even 
up  to  a  late  period  ;  but  the  cloth  itself  appears  to  have  been 
superseded  by  the  more  durable  and  elegant  product  of  the 
loom.  The  finely  embroidered  borders  of  their  garments 
betoken  a  far  more  advanced  state  than  they  can  lay  claim  to 
in  the  other  arts,  which  they  are  acquainted  with.  Their  houses 
likewise  seem  to  betoken  a  Chinese  or  Japanese  origin; 
they  are  built  in  a  similar  way  to  those  which  are  erected  of 
bamboo,  being  ornamented  with  arapaki,  or  lattice  work  of 
various  colors  and  patterns,  indicating  much  skill  and  even 


186  ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED   BY  THE   LANGUAGE. 

elegance  and  taste.  In  ship  building,  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  acquired  anything  from  them;  not  having  iron,  they 
could  not  advance  on  the  skill  of  their  forefathers. 

There  is  scarcely  any  work  relating  to  the  Polynesian  Isles 
to  be  compared  with  that  of  Mariner's  Tonga  Isles,  either  for  the 
faithfulness  of  the  description  given  of  their  manners  and 
customs,  or  for  the  general  interest  of  his  narrative.  From 
it  we  gather  many  particulars  of  resemblance  between  the 
inhabitants  of  New  Zealand  and  Tonga;  whilst  the  former 
believes  that  Maui  fished  up  his  island,  which  thence  bears  the 
name  of  his  fish,  the  latter  also  states  that  his  isles  were  drawn 
out  of  the  water  by  Tangaloa,  whilst  fishing  with  the  line  and 
hook  (see  vol.  ii.,  p.  99).  Tangaloa,  we  have  already  said,  is 
identical  with  Tangaroa,  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  Maori 
deities.  He  is  also  viewed  in  Tonga  as  the  god  of  the  ocean. 
Their  ideas  likewise  agree  in  the  pre-existence  of  the  ocean, 
and  in  the  sky  being  solid,  originally  resting  on  the  earth. 

The  Hotua  Pou,  who  are  spoken  of  as  mischievous  gods, 
whose  attribute  is  never  to  dispense  good,  but  petty  evils,  not 
as  a  punishment,  but  indiscriminately  from  a  pure  mischievous 
disposition,  exactly  agrees  with  the  Atua  Poiiki  of  the  Maori. 

The  New  Zealander  also  has  some  idea  of  high  chiefs,  or 
arikis,  going  to  heaven  after  death,  whilst  those  of  inferior 
note  went  to  Po,  which  is  their  Hades ;  also  that  their  gods 
manifest  themselves  to  their  descendants  or  priests,  under  the 
form  of  lizards,  spiders,  moths,  whirlwinds,  flashes  of  lightning, 
&c.;  that  they  often  enter  the  body  of  individuals,  and  surprise 
them,  using  their  voice  to  utter  their  will. 

Their  ideas  of  omens  are  also  similar,  as  well  as  the  word 
for  divination  (vol.  ii.,  p.  191),  ta  niu,  although  the  way  of 
divining  is  different,  the  Tonga  native  drawing  a  favorable  or 
unfavorable  conclusion  from  the  spinning  of  the  cocoa  nut. 

The  tuitonga  and  veachi,  sacred  chiel's,  have  no  representa- 
tive in  New  Zealand,  except  that  every  high  chief  or  ariki  is 
a  sacred  character,  and  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  con- 
versing at  pleasure  with  his  ancestral  gods,  and,  in  fact,  to  be 
one  himself  on  earth.  The  former  seem  to  have  been  rather 
spiritual  kings,  more  nearly  resembling  the  Dairi  of  Japan, 


ORIGIN^   AS  TRACED   BY  THE   LANGUAGE.  187 

the  Lama^  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  of  Thibet,  orthe  Pope  of  Rome 
(vol.  ii.,  p.  1 10).  The  carnal  intercourse  of  atuas  and  females  is 
the  common  belief  of  both  races.  The  way  that  gods  speak 
to  men,  by  whistling  from  the  roof  of  houses,  (vol.  ii.,  p.  124), 
is  also  the  same.  The  customs  of  widows  committing  suicide, 
and  of  burying  in  a  sitting  posture,  are  identical. 

The  malai  corresponds  with  the  marae,  being  the  principal 
court  in  a  pa,  or  the  open  space  before  the  priest's  houses, 
where  strangers  are  received,  and  all  their  grand  councils  held. 
The  word  for  a  king  in  Tonga  is  how,  although  there  is 
no  similar  dignity  in  New  Zealand,  and  therefore  the  word  is 
naturally  not  to  be  found,  yet  there  are  others  derived  from 
this  root ;  of  such  is  the  kai  waka  howhow,  the  person  who 
gives  command  in  a  war  canoe  to  the  paddlers,  and  regulates 
the  time.  Kauhow,  to  teach,  to  instruct,  or  direct.  In  Tonga, 
an  adept  in  anything  has  the  prefix  of  kau  :  a  kau-tang-ata,  is 
a  skilful  man ;  a  kau-moana,  a  skilful  sailor.  In  New  Zealand 
he  is  called  au  moana  ;  the  word  is  found  in  kau^matua,  an  elder. 

The  description  of  the  tapu,  and  of  their  feasts,  will  do  for 
either  race. 

The  custom  of  cutting  the  person  with  shells  or  obsidian, 
and  allowing  the  blood  to  dry  on  the  person,  is  also  the  same, 
although  in  New  Zealand  it  is  chiefly  practised  by  the  women, 
and  confined  to  the  forehead  or  chest. 

Elegiac  ballads  were  also  written  in  honour  of  great  chiefs, 
and  most  frequently  by  their  widows. 

In  all  these  particulars,  and  many  others,  the  identity  of  the 
Tonga  natives  with  those  of  New  Zealand  is  evident ;  in  fact, 
the  language  is  so  nearly  alike,  that  the  natives  can  make 
themselves  understood  to  each  other.  Tonga  is  the  name  given 
by  the  Maori  to  the  south  wind.  The  highest  mountain  is 
also  honored  with  the  same,  being  called  tonga  riro.* 

The  points  of  agreement  between  the  Feegee  and  Maori  are 
not  so  evident ;  there  are,  however,  many  particulars  in  which 
they  likewise  agree.     The  following  were  received  from  a 

*  Tonga  riro  simply  means  Tonga,  which  has  left  or  departed  from  its  old 
position  in  the  Tonga  Islands. 


188  ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED   BY  THE   LANGUAGE. 

Wesleyan  Missionary  stationed  at  Mere  (Rev. Mr.  Hazlewood). 
The  spirit  of  the  still-bom  child  is  very  much  feared. 

Makutu,  or  witchcraft,  is  practised  in  a  similar  way  to  that 
of  the  Maori,  by  procuring  some  of  the  parings  of  the  food 
which  the  person  to  be  destroyed  has  eaten ;  these  are  buried, 
and  as  they  decay,  the  victim  also  pines  away  and  dies. 

Langiy  heaven  {rangi,  New  Zealand),  literally  the  place 
where  the  heaven  and  the  earth  unite,  or  the  distant  horizon, 
from  whence  the  European  was  thought  to  come,  it  being  con- 
sidered his  remote  home,  and  therefore  he  is  called  papa-langi, 
or  the  person  who  comes  from  the  surface  of  heaven. 

UtOf  the  bread  fruit,  is  also  the  heart.  New  Zealand  uri^ 
ufl,  or  uwi,  the  yam ;  ndalo ;  talo  (Tonga),  taro  (New  Zealand), 
the  edible  species  of  the  arum.  The  word  koli  agrees  with 
the  New  Zealand  kuri  (dog). 

Circumcision  universally  obtains  in  the  Feegee  Isles.  There 
is  a  rite  nearly  approaching  to  it  in  New  Zealand,  called  the 
putete,  which  consists  in  tying  up  the  prepuce  with  a  string, 
and  then  fastening  the  end  of  it  to  the  girdle ;  this  was  done 
when  on  a  journey  or  going  to  fight. 

Thake  means  above,  as  the  sun  or  the  east,  as  ake  does  in 
Tonga  and  New  Zealand. 

Ray  down  below,  as  the  sun  raro^  New  Zealand.  In  Feegee 
it  is  the  west,  in  New  Zealand  the  north. 

Toka  lau,  the  north,  is  tokarau,  which  is  north-east  in  New 
Zealand. 

Kau^  the  plural  prefix,  is  used  ordinarily  for  men  ;  kau 
matua,  elders;  and  how  is  the  plural  for  chiefs  and  gods. 
Fango  is  the  plural  for  animals.  Ngahi,  for  inanimate  objects. 
Onga  is  the  dual  prefix  before  animals. 

/ro,  to  peep,  is  the  same  as  tiro  in  New  Zealand.  Dalinga, 
the  ear,  agrees  with  the  New  Zealand  taringa. 

The  following  words  were  taken  from  a  list  of  Malayan 
dialects,  as  spoken  in  Borneo  : — 

Engli$h,  Malay.  New  ZeaUitul. 

Two.  Dua.  Dua,  rua. 

Three.  'figa*  tarn.  Tom. 

Five.  Lima,  rimch.  Kima. 


ORIOm,   AS  TRACED   BT  THE  LANOUAOE. 


189 


Englith. 

Malay. 

New  Zealand, 

Mother. 

Ma. 

Waea. 

Woman. 

Tni. 

Hine. 

Man. 

Orang. 

Tangata. 

Head. 

Kapala  (caput J. 

Upoko. 

Ear. 

Telinga. 

Taringa. 

Eyes. 

Mata. 

Mata. 

Nose. 

Idong. 

Ihu. 

Mouth. 

Mulat. 

Mangai. 

Teeth. 

Gigi,  nipun. 

Niho. 

Water. 

Ayer,  ai. 

Wai. 

Dead. 

Mati  mate. 

Mate. 

Fire. 

Api. 

Ahi. 

A  path. 

Suntah,  arau. 

Ara. 

Sky. 

Langit. 

Bangi. 

Stone. 

Batu. 

TCohatu,  kowatu. 

Bird. 

Mutah,  menuk. 

Manu. 

The  final  k 

in  Malay  ifi 

I  often  mute. — The  consonants  3,  d,  may 

have  the  intervening  vowel  a,  e,  t ,  o,  or  u, 

changed  at  pleasure. 

The  resemblance  between  the  New  Zealanders  and  the 
natives  of  the  Society  and  Sandwich  Isles  is  still  more 
remarkable,  and,  perhaps,  of  all  islands,  the  little  one  of  Waiho, 
or  Easter  Island,  is  the  most  perfect.  It  appears  highly  pro- 
bable that  some  of  its  inhabitants  found  their  way  to  New 
Zealand,  and  remarkable  that  the  spot  which  they  would 
be  the  most  likely  to  make  by  the  prevailing  current  in 
reaching  New  Zealand,  should  be  called  Waiho,*  the 
name  of  their  isle.  Easter  Island  also  seems  to  have 
become  the  abode  of  the  progenitors  of  the  Polynesian 
race  before  it  had  lost  some  of  its  original  knowledge  of  the 
arts.  The  large  stone  monuments  still  existing  there,  speak  of 
a  bygone  skill,  and,  perhaps,  of  acquaintance  with  the  use  of 
iron.  The  form,  too,  of  the  covering  of  the  heads  of  those 
figures  bears  a  remarkable  I'esemblance  to  those  seen  in  Egyp- 
tian hieroglyphics,  especially  of  that  supposed  to  refer  to 
Shishak's  victory  over  Rehoboam. 


*  Waiho,  also  a  name  of  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  signifying  to  leare  or 
abandon. 


190  ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED  BY  THE   LANGUAGE. 

It  is  evident  the  New  Zealanders,  from  their  own  account, 
did  not  all  come  either  at  the  same  time,  from  the  same  place, 
or  to  the  same  part  of  the  island  :*  the  peculiar  difference  of 
dialect  still  existing  amongst  the  tribes,  would,  to  the  skilful 
Polynesian  philologist,  point  out  almost  the  precise  locality 
from  whence  each  came.  In  one  part  the  k  is  not  used,  in 
another  the  ng  is  omitted.  In  the  Society  and  the  Sandwich 
Isles  we  find  the  same.  But  this  is  a  subject  for  those  better 
acquainted  with  the  Polynesian  dialects.  It  is  sufficient  at 
present  to  dwell  upon  generals,  and  leave  the  more  minute 
investigation  to  that  time  when  all  these  languages,  and  the 
leading  ones  of  the  globe,  shall  be  brought  together.  In  the 
mean  time,  1  shall  add  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  a  list  of  a 
few  words  which  seem  to  bear  an  affinity  to  many  we  are 
accustomed  to,  and  conclude  with  venturing  to  hint,  that  the 
many  points  of  resemblance  in  feature,  general  customs,  and 
manners,  may  enable  us  to  discover  in  the  widely-spread 
Polynesian  race,  a  remnant  of  the  long-lost  tribes  of  Israel,  and 
when  the  time  arrives  for  their  restoration  from  all  countries 

*  This  is  clearly  seen  in  the  variation  of  names  which  we  find  in  different 
parts  of  the  island,  which  evidently  proves,  that  each  emigration  gave  them 
according  to  the  impressions  formed  on  first  landing.    Thus,  in  the 

North  Kukupa  is  in  the  South  Keriru,  a  pigeon. — Kuku,  pigeons  pre- 

[served  in  their  own  fat. 
,,       Tut  „  Koko  Tui. 

Tutu,  Cariarin  sartnentosa. 

Ahi,  Fire. 

Hau,  Smoke. 

Hau  nui,  Dew  and  flowers. 
Nearly  all  the  trees  differ  in  their  names ;  thus  in  the  North  the  phormium 
tenaw  is  called  korari  ;  in  the  South,  that  is  the  name  of  the  flower  stalk  only, 
the  plant  itself  is  called  harakeke.  So  also  the  names  of  address  vary  in 
different  parts :  the  Npa  puhi  say  E  koro,  or  E  mara  ;  those  in  the  South 
laugh  at  it.  There  they  say,  E  tama  or  E  hoa.  And  in  the  more  central 
part  of  the  island,  it  is  J?  pa.  In  fact,  we  have  a  remarkable  instance  of  this 
difference  occurring  in  recent  times :  when  that  valuable  tuber,  the  potatoe, 
was  introduced  by  Captain  Cook,  and  given  in  the  North,  the  natives  there 
called  it  kapana.  In  the  Thames,  where  he  also  left  it,  they  named  it  rxwai  ; 
and  in  the  South,  or  Cook*s  Straits,  it  goes  by  the  name  of  Ta§v)a.  Still 
later,  the  hen  was  called  in  one  part  a  heihei,  in  another  a  tikaokao  ;  so  the 
horse  was  a  hoiho,  and  also  a  kuri,  or  big  dog,  that  being  the  only  animal  they 
were  then  acquainted  with. 


„  Tupakihi 

„  Kapura 

„  Patia 

„  Tomai  rangi 


ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED  BY  THB  LANGUAGE.  191 

in  which  they  have  been  dispersed,  from  "  Hamath  and  the 
Isles  of  the  Sea  **'  that,  in  that  day  it  will  be  found,  even  to 
these  ends  of  the  world,  the  fearful  denunciation  of  Divine 
wrath  has  driven  his  apostate  people,  who,  forsaking  the  true 
light  given  them,  and  preferring  heathen  darkness,  were  to 
be  suffered  to  dwell  in  that  darkness,  until  they  had  fulfilled 
their  appointed  times.  We  have  no  reason  to  suppose,  that 
when  Uie  ten  tribes  were  carried  captive  by  Assyria,  that  they 
were  all  placed  in  the  same  spot,  or  were  likely  to  remain  in 
those  spots  in  which  they  were  first  placed ;  on  the  contrary, 
we  have  the  denunciation  that  they  should  be  scattered,  and 
we  cannot  suppose  that  the  mere  taking  them  out  of  their 
own  land  was  the  termination  of  their  punishment,  but  rather 
that  it  was  only  the  commencement  of  it,  as  in  after  times,  when 
Jerusalem  fell  first  before  the  King  of  Babylon,  and  lastly 
before  Titus,  the  first  fall  was  but  the  beginning  of  numberless 
others.  True,  Cyrus  permitted  the  Jews  to  return,  but  did 
all  do  so  ?  Why  the  exhortation  of  the  prophet,  "  Deliver 
thyself,  O  Zion,  that  dwellest  with  the  daughter  of  Babylon." 
The  Jews,  bom  in  the  city  of  their  captivity,  lost  the  love  of 
their  native  land  ;  it  was  only  a  few  who  hung  their  harps  on 
the  willows;  the  merchandize  and  traffic  of  that  wonderful 
city,  had  more  charms  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation  than 
Judah,  and  thus  they  remained,  willing  captives.  When 
Titus  sacked  Jerusalem,  the  Jews  radiated  from  it  to  their 
flourishing  communities  in  Africa,  in  Asia,  and  in  every  part 
of  Europe.  So  when  the  King  of  Assyria  carried  away  the 
ten  tribes,  though  he  placed  them  primarily  on  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian,  that  would  not  long  suit  their  habits  of  traffic. 
They  would  doubtless  seek  the  grand  marts  of  commerce ;  no 
longer  possessing  fixed  homes,  they  became  merchants,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  those  who  still  continued  to  love  war 
and  independence,  or  a  pastoral  life,  would  retire  before  their 
enemies,  and  thus,  should  it  be  proved  that  the  Affghans  are 
Jews,  we  see  how  they  would  reach  that  country.  Whilst 
some,  perhaps  those  from  Babylon,  remained  in  India,  as  the 
black  Jews  state  they  have  done,  some  would  pass  on  thence  and 
people  the  Indian  Isles,  as  the  Malays.     From  the  Caspian, 


192  ORIGIN,    AS  TRACED  BT  THE   LANGUAGE. 

many  may  have  followed  the  carayans  across  Central  Asia, 
Thibet,  and  Tartary,  until  they  reached  the  Eastern  Coast, 
and  thence,  from  island  to  island,  this  race,  doomed  to  wander, 
may  have  done  so,  either  intentionally  or  otherwise,  as  ships 
are  constantly  picking  up  large  canoes,  which  have  drifted 
away  from  their  island  homes.  Doubtless  this  has  ever  been  the 
case,  and  whilst  numbers  have  thus  miserably  perished,  some 
few  have  escaped,  and  become  the  inhabitants  of  many  a  lone 
island  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  There  is  no  saying  where  they 
may  not  have  gone.  The  first  and  most  civilized  settlers  of  the 
Americas  seem  to  have  passed  by  the  Aleutian  Isles  to  the 
continent;  others,  drifted  by  the  course  of  currents,  have 
reached  the  Sandwich  Isles,  and  thence  gone  even  to  Easter 
Isle.  The  natives,  in  their  traditions,  preserve  the  name  of 
the  island  they  came  from,  which  is  Hawaiki.  In  this  name, 
which  is  identical  with  that  of  Hawaii,  we  have  a  proof  how 
languages  change  in  process  of  time.  The  Maori  preserve  the 
use  of  the  k  and  ng ;  their  ancestors  have  lost  them.  Thus, 
were  the  Anglo-Australians  to  be  entirely  cut  ofi*  from  the 
parent  stock  for  several  centuries,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  changes  quite  equal  to  these  would  take  place  in  the 
language;  but  that  the  offset  should  preserve  the  original 
purity  of  their  tongue  is  the  most  remarkable.  The  Anglo- 
Americans  make  a  similar  boast,  but  with  what  truth  is 
another  thing.  Hawaii  is  still  the  name  of  the  largest  of  the 
Sandwich  Isles.  It  only  wants  the  >fc,  this  the  New  Zealander 
called  *Hawaiki  tawiti  nui,  or  the  very  distant  Hawaii; 
thence  they  came  to  Hawaiki  patata,  or  nearer  Hawaiki, 
literally  the  lesser  isle,  being  smaller  than  Hawaiki,  that 
is  Tahaiti ;  and  having  remained  there  until  their  numbers 
were  too  large  for  the  size  of  the  island,  they  again  migrated 
to  Hawaiki  ki  te  tnoutere.  Supposing  this  to  have  been  Easter 
Island,  which  is  situated  at  the  end  of  the  south-east  trade 
winds,  we  shall  have  a  very  natural  and  easy  course  to  Coromandel 
Harbour,  New  Zealand,  which,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
bears   the   same   name   as   that   of  Easter   Isle.     All   their 

*  I  Kunemai  i  kawaiki.  The  seed  of  our  coming  is  from  Hawaiki. 

Te  kone  kai  te  kune  langata,  The  seed  of  food,  the  seed  of  man. 


ORIGIN,   AS  TRACED   Bt   THE   LANGUAGE.  193 

traditions  state,  they  came  from  the  East.  Here,  then,  native 
memory  has  preserved  the  recollection  of  three  several  removes. 
How  many  more  may  have  heen  forgotten  ! 

At  Parapara,  a  small  native  village  on  the  road  from 
Kaitaia  to  Doubtless  Bay,  there  resided  (1840)  an  intelligent 
old  chief,  named  Mahdkaif  a  tohunga  deeply  versed  in  the 
traditions  of  his  country.  Although  unbaptized  himself,  yet 
most  of  the  members  of  his  family  were,  he  therefore  became 
attached  to  the  Missionaries,  and  freely  answered  all  their 
enquiries  about  his  ancestors,  a  few  years  ago  he  said  such 
a  thing  would  not  have  been  thought  of;  and  hence  we 
see  how  unlikely  it  is  that  mere  strangers,  passing  through  the 
country,  can  acquire  a  knowledge  of  traditions  held  to  be 
sacred,  and  which  even  amongst  themselves  are  only  perfectly 
known  to  a  small  number. 

He  repeated  a  list  of  twenty-six  generations  from  their 
first  coming  to  this  island,  namely : — 

1.  Tiki.  14.  Rapa  rapa  to  uira. 

2.  Kaui.  15.  Nuku  tawiti. 

3.  Po.  16.  Hae  (a  woman). 

4.  Maweti.  17.  Moerewa  (lived  to  be  very  old). 

5.  Atua.  18.  Papa  waka  miha  miha. 

6.  Maea.  19.  Te  turn. 

7.  Waikapu.  20.  Heke  rangi. 

8.  Tukuora.  21.  Patua. 

9.  Tutenga  nahau.  22.  Awatai. 

10.  Tau  mumu  hue.  23.  Koro  awio. 

1 1 .  Taua  na  nga.  24.  Mapihi. 

12.  Te  niho  o  te  rangi.  25.  Haruni. 

13.  Mumu  te  awa.  26.  Moehau. 

The  last,  is  an  old  woman,  a  great  priestess,  who  was  then 
living  at  Knuckle  Point.  The  old  priest  in  his  first  half-dozen 
names  seems  to  have  gotten  amongst  the  gods.  If  we  allow 
thirty  years  to  a  generation,  and  take  away  six  of  them,  it 
will  give  a  period  of  six  hundred  years ;  and  even  this  I  am 
inclined  to  think  is  too  long  by  one  hundred. 

He  stated  that  their  ancestors  originally  came  from  three 
islands,  Hawaiki,  Mata  tera^  and  Wairota,  all  which  lay  to  the 

o 


194  ORIOINy   AS  TRACED   BT  THE   LANGUAGE. 

East.  That  the  hills  of  these  islands  were  covered  with  kumara, 
which  there  grew  spontaneously.  That  a  quarrel  caused  them 
to  leave,  hut  there  was  no  fighting,  having  no  weapons,  and 
not  heing  then  a  warlike  race.  That  they  came  in  a  fleet 
of  canoes,  and  first  landed  at  Waiapu,  near  the  East  Cape. 
That  in  the  third  generation  Po  came  to  this  part,  to  Taimaro. 
That  in  a  neighbouring  island  to  theirs,  there  were  beasts 
which  carried  men  on  their  backs,  and  that  in  some  of  those 
islands,  there  were  axes  having  holes  in  them,  through  which 
the  handles  were  thrust,  and  so  did  not  require  tying  on, 
as  their  native  stone  hatchets  did.  That  in  one  island  in  their 
vicinity,  there  were  men  whose  skins  were  perfectly  black,  who 
went  without  clothing,  and  did  not  so  much  as  wear  an  apron 
before  them.  And  also  in  another  isle,  there  were  men  who 
had  sandy  hair ;  that  they  had  nuts,  with  oil  in  them  (cocoa), 
that  they  had  cloth  made  of  the  bark  of  trees.  That  they 
brought  the  tapu  with  them  (i.e.  their  religion),  and  it  grew 
with  them.  That  originally  they  were  not  cannibals.  That 
this  horrid  custom  was  of  recent  origin,  having  only  commenced 
when  he  was  a  little  boy ;  that  it  arose  from  anger,  and  not 
from  extreme  hunger ;  that  it  began  with  his  tribe,  which  was 
thence  called  patu.  That  they  did  not  tattoo  their  faces  when 
they  first  came,  but  used  to  mark  them  with  charcoal,*  and 
this  was  done  several  generations  after  their  arrival ;  that  tat- 
tooing was  a  late  invention.  This  was  the  substance  of  the 
information^  we  received  from  the  old  chief  relative  to  his 
forefathers.  He  likewise  said  that  he  remembered  the  coming  of 
Captain  Cook,  who  stood  ofi*  Doubtless  Bay,  and  sent  a  boat  on 
shore  for  fire-wood ;  they  landed  and  planted  potatoes  and  sowed 
cabbage  and  turnip  seed.  One  of  the  natives  went  on  board ; 
they  were  much  alarmed  lest  he  should  be  eaten.  They 
received  presents  of  red  cloth.  He  said  he  was  then  old 
enough  ''  to  catch  a  fish  and  cook  it.** 

Before  iron  axes  were  brought  into  the  country,  all  used  to 
laugh  at  him  about  the  tradition  of  there  being  axes  which 

*  Even  now,  when  they  go  to  war,  the  young  men  thus  disfigure  their  faces 
with  charcoal, 
t  Rev.  Joseph  Matthews. 


ORIGIN,   AS  TRACED   BY   THE   LANGUAGE.  195 

had  handles  fastened  on  without  being  tied,  supposing  it  was 
impossible,  and  thinking  the  tradition  was  only  an  idle  tale  of 
their  fore-fathers,  to  excite  their  wonder;  and  their  ideas 
were  the  same  about  there  being  animals  which  carried  men. 
This  old  chief  accompanied  some  of  his  people  to  Waimate, 
and  there  saw  a  horse  for  the  first  time,  with  some  one  riding 
on  it,  he  was  greatly  delighted,  and  reminded  his  followers  of 
their  traditions,  saying.  You  would  not  believe  me  about  the 
beasts  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  whence  our  fathers  came, 
but  you  see  I  was  right.  In  the  north,  the  memory  of  Captain 
Cook  is  much  revered,  but  that  of  Governor  King  far  more 
so ;  he  is  spoken  of  with  great  affection  ;  it  was  by  him  that 
pigs  were  first  introduced  into  the  northern  part  of  this  island. 
They  were  a  very  large  kind,  but  did  not  increase :  some  got 
into  their  sacred  groves  and  rooted  amongst  the  dead,  for 
which  they  were  shot,  the  others  were  used  as  horses,  the 
natives  taking  them  (I  suppose)  for  the  wonderful  animals 
their  fore-fathers  spoke  of,  and  so  hard  did  they  try  to  turn 
them  into  horses,  that  they  soon  killed  them  all.  Governor 
King  visited  the  north  end  of  the  island,  and  it  was  his  kind- 
ness to  two  natives,  Haru  and  Tuki,  who  were  carried  to 
Norfolk  Island  to  teach  the  prisoners  how  to  manufacture 
flax  from  the  phormium  tencuc,  which  endeared  him  to  the 
natives,  and  was,  under  Providence,  the  cause  of  the  Gospel 
being  brought  to  this  island.  On  such  apparently  trifling 
circumstances  do  the  greatest  events  often  turn!  for  Mr. 
Marsden*s  first  desire  to  send  Missionaries  to  New  Zealand, 
arose  from  his  there  meeting  with  those  two  natives,  and  being 
struck  with  their  superior  intelligence.  They  were  after- 
wards sent  back  to  their  couiiflry,  enriched  with  presents,  and 
the  natives  of  that  part  boast  that  they  were  the  first  who 
received  Europeans  with  kindness,  and  indeed  they  have 
invariably  done  so,  never  having,  except  in  one  single  case, 
injured  any  who  landed  on  their  shores.  It  was  from  those 
further  south,  at  Wangaroa  and  the  Bl^  of  Islands,  that  they 
were  ill  treated.  When  Tuki  and  Huru  returned,  the  natives 
flocked  around  them,  and  were  anxious  to  learn  how  the 
Europeans  had  behaved  to  them,    and   on  hearing  of   the 

o  2 


196  AFFINITY   OF   WORDS. 

uniform  kindness  they  had  received,  it  made  such  an  im- 
pression in  favor  of  Englishmen,  as  never  to  be  since  erased 
from  their  memory. 

The  natives  of  the  north,  above  Kaitaia,  state,  that  the  first 
wheat  which  was  sowed  in  the  island  was  by  Governor  King, 
at  Kapo  Wairua,  where  he  first  landed. 

In  all  languages,  some  words  may  be  found  which  resemble 
those  in  another ;  this,  of  course,  is  the  case  with  those  tongues 
which  have  derived  much  either  from  neighbouring  countries, 
or  in  common  with  them  from  some  more  ancient  tongue ;  as 
is  the  case  with  most  of  the  European  languages. 

But  when  this  resemblance  or  identitv  of  words,  exists  in 
such  a  remote  and  isolated  race  as  the  Maori,  and  that  too 
with  European  tongues,  then  we  can  only  account  for  it  by 
supposing  that  there  is  a  natural  tendency  in  the  human  race 
to  adopt  the  same  symbols  ;  a  natural  unity  of  thought,  arising 
from  causes  common  to  all.  For  an  example,  when  poultry 
were  first  introduced  into  New  Zealand,  they  immediately  gave 
it  a  name  from  its  crow,  ti  kao  kao,  as  our  ancestors  did  when 
they  called  it  the  cock :  one  people  deriving  its  name  from  the 
crow,  the  other  from  its  cluck.  So  with  the  duck,  which  is 
most  likely  so  called  from  its  quack ;  the  natives  adopting  the 
same  sound  to  the  idiom  of  their  language,  call  it  rake  rake, 
which  is  nothing  more  than  quack  quack. 

In  fact,  all  the  birds  of  New  Zealand  are  named  from  their 
notes,  and  this  seems  quite  natural.  When  our  settlers  first 
reached  New  Zealand,  they  fancied  that  the  cry  of  the  owl 
resembled  the  words  more  pork,  and  more  pork  they  all  call 
it.  The  natives  of  the  north  fancy  its  note  resembles  the 
word  koU'koUy  and  that  is  its  name  there :  in  the  south,  they 
think  it  sounds  like  ru-ru,  and  so  it  is  called.  But  although 
in  this  instance  there  is  so  much  difference,  yet  in  many  others 
there  may  be  a  remarkable  resemblance  of  thought,  and  we 
may  meet  with  similar  words  in  most  remote  languages,  which 
are  evidently  derived  from  sound ;  thus,  in  New  Zealand,  the 
beautiful  word  ha-ru-ru  is  taken  from  the  shaking  or  vibratory 
sound  of  water,  the  noiee  of  the  surf;  ha,  is  the  breath,  and 


AFFINITY  OF   WOBOS.  197 

is  the  natural  sound  of  an  aspiration ;  ru  is  the  simple  word 
to  shake^  and  the  reduplication  increases  its  power ;  ru  has 
thus  naturally  become  the  term  for  an  earthquake,  which  has 
a  similar  motion  to  that  of  a  wave. 

In  general,  however,  it  must  be  evident,  that  when  similar 
words,  which  cannot  be  traced  to  sound,  occur,  there  must 
have  been  some  previous  connection  of  the  languages,  although 
the  remembrance  of  it  may  have  long  since  passed  away. 

A  most  interesting  word  is  taki,  which  means  to  track.  Now 
it  appeal's  very  remarkable,  that  these  two  words,  which  are 
not  very  dissimilar  in^  sound,  should  both  alike  possess  two 
very  different  meanings.  Taki  means  to  hawl  a  canoe  by  a 
line,  and  this  is  likewise  the  legitimate  meaning  of  the  English 
word.  Taki  also  means  to  trace  or  track  a  man  by  his  foot- 
marks, and  so  does  the  word  to  track;  and  both  also  mean 
a  track,  made  by  footsteps.  This  resemblance  can  scarcely  be 
a  chance  one. 

Haere,  to  go,  is  another ;  it  is  the  same  in  Latin,  ire,  with 
a  like  signification,  so  in  the  Old  English,  hie;  hiegan,  Saxon; 
allez,  French. 

The  word  pata^  to  patter  as  rain,  or  drop  as  water,  is 
another,  which  seems  to  present  a  singular  resemblance  to  the 
European  one.  From  pata  may  be  derived  the  word  patu,  to 
batter  or  strike,  and  the  French  battu.  fTu  also  signifies  to 
strike ;  and  here  again  we  have  the  same  in  ttie,  French,  to 
kill,  and  the  Greek  word  rvTrrw ;  and  again  in  tuiu^  when  one 
stands  against  another  as  an  adversary. 

To  give  one  more  instance,  we  take  the  letter  u,  the  nipple 
of  the  breast,  to  which  the  infant  clings  for  its  support ;  hence 
u  signifies  to  hold.  The  canoe,  when  it  touches  the  land,  is 
said  to  u  or  hold  to  the  land ;  hence  uta  is  the  shore,  u  is  to 
hold,  ta  to  touch  or  strike ;  utaina  is  to  land ;  uranga  is  the 
anchorage  ;  kia  u  is  to  hold  on  ;  wai  u,  water  of  the  breast,  or 
milk  ;  uma  is  the  breast ;  umu  is  an  oven,  whence  food  is  drawn 
for  man,  as  it  is  for  the  infant  from  the  uma,  Urunga  is  a 
pillow,  to  which  the  head  clings  for  rest ;  urungi  is  the  paddle 
used  in  steering,  which  causes  the  canoe  to  hold  on  its  course ; 
utu,  revenge,  payment  from  u  to  cling,  or  hold  on  to,  and  tu 


198 


MONOSYLLABIC   HOOTS. 


to  stand  up  as  a  foe^  utu  is  also  to  draw  water ;  and  many  more 
derivatives  of  this  letter  might  be  produced,  such  as  ua,  rain, 
which  is  the  nipple  of  the  sky  above,  ue,  the  cloud  This  root 
is  preserved  in  ovdap  (Gr.),  uber  (Lat.),  and  in  the  English 
words  udder  and  bosom. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  examples  of  this  kind.  The 
subjoined  list  of  words  will  afford  the  philologist  matter  for 
consideration. 


Ahi      (Maori.) 

Ai 

»f 

Ai 

»> 

Ai 

>f 

Amo 

» 

Apo 

»y 

Atua,  Etua 

■  if 

Awa 

if 

Dua  or  rua 

fi 

Haere 

ff 

Hamuti 

if 

Hapainga 

» 

Han 

if 

Haua 

M 

He 

ff 

Hekina 

» 

Hine 

ff 

Hohoro 

if 

Homai 

a 

Hua 

if 

Huka 

if 

Huna 

ff 

Huri 

if 

Ika 

if 

Itiiti 

a 

Iwi 

ff 

Ka 

'f 

Kakano 

M 

Kano 

if 

Kapo 

ff 

Kapura 

it 

ignis  (Latin  )    aghni  (Sanscrit.)     fire  (English.) 

<;t*' '  (Greek.)    aigan  (Gothic)  *  to  haTO,  to  possess  (Eng.) 

aio  (Lat.)    to  say  (Eng.) 

aye,  yes  (Eng.) 

a  —  m — n  (Hebrew)  implies  nurturing,  fostering,  to  support, 

sustain,  (amun-ra  Jupiter  Ammon),  the  lower  part  of  the 

arm,  hence  to  carry  (Eng.) 
avarus  (Lat.)    greedy  (Eng.) 
Deus  (Lat.)    Dewa  (Sans.)     God  (Eng.) 
aven  (Welch.)    aqua  (Lat.)    ahwa  (Goth.)     uwin  (Gaelic.) 

a  river  (Eng.) 
iuM  (Gr.)  duo  (Lat.)  deux  (French.)  dwi  (Sans.)  two  (Eng.) 
ire  (Lat.)  alloz  (Fr.)  heya  (Goth.)  hiegan(Sax.)  hie  (old  Eng.) 

to  go  (Eng.) 
mutir  (Fr.)     to  mute  or  dung,  a  privy  (Eng.) 
atafiatvt,  «tfrr«  (Gr.)  haf-yan  (Goth.)  lift  up, help,  ascend  (Eng.) 
gero  (I^at)    carry  (Eng.) 
to  be  hewed  (Eng.) 
a  (pron.  as  the  English  article  a) 
echinus  (Lat.)    a  sea  egg  (Eng.) 

gin  (Australian.)  zhena  (Russian.)  ghena  (Sans.)  girl  (Eng.) 
curro  (Lat.)    hurry  (Eng.) 

hh^futi  (Gr.)    do  (Lat.)    da'  homai  (Sans.)    to  give  (Eng.) 
ft(t  futi  (Gr.)  to  beget,    to  bear  fruit  (Eng.) 
hookhah  (Turkish.)    froth,  snow  (Eng.) 
to  hide  (Eng.) 
XvXm  (Gr.)    to  turn  (Eng.) 
tx^ut  (Gr.)    ikan  (Malay.)    fish  (Eng. 
liUle  (Eng.) 
bone.  Eve  (Eng.) 

*mm  (Gr.)    khan  (Sans.)     to  burn  (Eng.) 
»•«««  (Gr.)    a  com,  kernel  (Eng.) 
a  kind  (Eng ) 

capio.  carpo.  (Lat)     to  crop,  take  (Eng.) 
wy^  (Gr.)    fire  (Eng.) 


MONOSYLLABIC   ROOTS. 


199 


RaraDga (Maori)  kara  (Heb.)    »«Am  (Gr.)  to  cry.    to  call  (Eng.) 

Hfi^t^  (Gr.)  a  herald,    clangor  (Eng.) 
itn^tf^  (Or.)    messenger  (Eng.) 
sawer  (Teutonic.)    sour  (Eng.) 
pa-kete  (Anglo-maori.)    basket,  kit  (Elng.) 
M(n»  (Gr.)    carnis  (Lat.)    flesh  (Eng.) 
cortex  (Lat.)    bark  (Eng.) 
ko  (Mexican.)    the  native  spade,  hoe  (Eng.) 
m»Mt  (Gr.)     cinis  (Lat)    cinder  (Eng.) 
comer  (Eng.) 

yi(f  (Gr.)    old  man  (Eng.) 
.yi/vi  (Gr.)    quay,  or  quee  (N.  A.  Indians)    old  woman,  term 

of  respect  (Eng.) 
thibet  (Heb.)    ark,  bowl  (Eng.) 
»iwir  (Gr.)     cam  (Lat)    cuan  (Sans.)    cur  (Eng.) 
to  cut  with  scissors  (Eng.) 

fuyof  (Gr.)    magnis  (Lat.)    meikle  (Scot)    mikils  (Goth.) 
mekin  (Heb.)    machina  (Lat)    work,  make  (Eng.) 
manger  (Fr.)  to  munch,    mouth  (Eng.) 
mauri  (Lat)  moor,    native  (Eng.) 

(cahn,  smooth,  unruffled  surface  of  the  sea.)    marine  (Eng.) 
moth  (Heb.)    mord  (Ger.)     mors  morte  (Lat)     murthur, 

morgue  (Fr.)    mauthr  (Goth.)    maithrine  (Sans.)    death, 

murder  (Eng.) 
XMMT  (Gr.)    gnaw  (Eng.) 
mfilim  (Gr.)    papa  (Eng.) 
planus  (Lat)    a  plain  (Eng.) 
(a  fortification  in  New  Zealand.)  a  stoppage,  a  bar,  to  parry 

or  ward  off  an  enemy  (Eng.) 
mrt^tv  itrt^tf  (Gr.)    wing,  feathers  (Eng.) 
to  patter,  as  water  dropping,  drops  of  rain  (Eng.) 
battre  (Lat)  battu,  beaten,    to  beat  batter  (Eng.) 
(to  poke  in  earth  over  an  oven  (Eng.) 
pono  (Lat)  to  place  confidence  in.    truth  (E^g.) 
fvH  (Gr.),    bhu  (Sans.)    to  spring,  to  be,  to  shoot  (Eng.) 
gilU  of  fish  (Eng.) 
to  boil  (Eng.) 
to  swell  (Eng.) 
root  (Eng.) 
(ra   sun — ngatira   company,    the  light  or   chief    of   men. 

rigah  (Sans.)    a  chief  (Eng.) 
•v^«*«f  (Gr.)    langi  (Malay.)    heaven  (Eng.) 
rim  or  hem  of  a  garment  (Eng.) 

rir  (Heb.)    ^m  (Gr.)    reo  (Lat)    to  flow,  to  fly  (Eng.) 
rete  (Lat)    net  (Eng.) 
rivis,  a  river  (Fr.)    ripple  (Eng.) 
here  (Heb.)    t^n  (Gr.)    ira  (Lat.)    anger,  ire  (Eng.) 
a  rite,  custom,  ceremony  (Eng.) 


Karere 

Kawa 

Kete 

Kiko  kiko 

Kiri 

Ko 

Kokonga 

Kokonga 

Koroheke 

Kuia 

Kumete 

Kuri 

Kutikuti 

Maha 

Blahi 

Mangai 

Maori 

Idarino 

Mate 


Ngau 
Pa,  Papa 
Paraha 
Pare,  pa 

Parirau 

Pata 

Patu 

Poki 

Pono 

Pu,  tupu 

Puha 

Pupu 

Pupuhi 

Putake 

Rangatira 

Rangi 

Remu 

Rere 

Rete 

Ripo 

Riri 

Rite 


tt 


» 


>» 


»» 


it 


>i 


}f 


» 


f* 


39 


>f 


99 


99 


» 


>y 


99 


99 


99 


» 


99 


99 


M 


» 


)> 


» 


9f 


>> 


99 


99 


99 


99 


99 


99 


99 


» 


» 


» 


99 


99 


W 


200 


MONOSTLI^BIC   ROOTS. 


Rite     (Maori  )   recte  (Lat )    straight  (Eng.) 


Rite 

if 

Ta 

n 

Tai 

i» 

Taimaha 

9* 

Tane 

>9 

Taogo 

M 

Tara 

it 

Tan  (or 

tatari) 

» 

Tatu 

n 

Tawiri 

» 

Te 

ft 

Tika 

M 

Tini 

» 

Toa 

W 

Toru 

W 

Tu 

»• 

Uma 

n 

Umu 

99 

Wa,wahaDga,> 

Wahine 

>y 

Wai 

ti 

Ua  rain 

99 

Waka 

99 

right  (Eng.) 

tap,  touch  (Eng.) 

tide  (Eng.) 

m.na  (Heb.)    ^mc  (Gr.)    mina  (Lat)    weight  (Eng.) 

»ni(  (Gr.)    a  man  (Eng.) 

Ttyi  (Gr.)    tango  (I^t)    to  take  (Eng.) 

^«f(i*»  (Gr)    to  dare  (Eng.) 

tardo  (Lat)    tardy,  tarry  (Eng,) 

(to  mark  the  skin  by  striking)    the  tattoo,  the  striking  on  a 

drum,  from  ta.  to  strike  (Eng.) 
to  twist,  to  wring,  as  clothes  (Eng.) 
the  (Eng.) 

£kt»mt9f  ^ixn  (Gr.)    dica  (Lat.)    just  (Eng. ) 
it9  (Gr.)    many  (Eng.) 
tough,  strong  (Eng.) 
T^ttt  (Gr.)    tres  (Lat)    trois  (Fr.)    tre  (Ital.)    tri  (Sans.) 

three  (Eng.) 
Ty^ri  (Gr.)    tuer  (Fr.)    to  kill,  to  strike  (Eng.) 
•v4a^  (Gr.)    uber  (Lat )    udder,  breast,  bosom  (Eng.) 
«v«f  (Gr.)     oven  (Eng.) 
veho,  yehiculum  (Lat)    wahana  (Goth.)    to  carry  on  the 

shoulders,  waggon,  wain  (Eng.) 
ywn  (Gr.)    woman,  or  carrying,  woman,  a  mother  (Eng.) 

f  iD«^  (Gr.)    mai  (Ethiopic),    wasser  (Goth.)    water  (Eng.), 
fac  (Lat)    fhaka  (Tonga.)    to  make  or  cause  (Eng.) 


In  New  Zealand,  we  are  often  surprised  to  find  how  easily 
we  may  be  mistaken  in  words,  and  fancy  some  are  real  Maori, 
when  they  are  only  introduced  ones.  To  find  out  whether 
they  are  so  or  not,  we  must  endeavour  to  discover  their  roots, 
for  there  are  few  words  in  the  language  which  may  not  thus  be 
traced  to  a  monosyllabic  origin. 

For  instance,  we  have  one  word  admitted  into  our  trans- 
lation of  the  Testament  which  I  very  much  doubt  whether 
the  translators,  though  our  first  Maori  scholars,  ever  sus- 
pected was  anything  but  a  genuine  Maori  word,  and  that  is 
toronaihiy  a  sickle.  Wondering  what  this  toronaihi  could  be 
originally,  as  they  had  nothing  like  a  sickle,  or  anything 
sharper  than  a  green-stone  adze,  or  hatchet,  I  put  the  question 
to  an  intelligent  native,  who  laughed  and  said,  "  Why,  don't 
you  know  what  it  is,  since  it  is  one  of  your  own  words  ?"     I 


MONOSYLLABIC  BOOTS.  201 

expressed  my  ignorance.  He  said,  that  the  toronaihi  is  the 
sharp  knife  which  whalers  use  to  cut  up  blubber  with — the 
drawknife.  The  word  has  been  naturalized  perhaps  for  half  a 
century ;  and  since  that  little  destructive  animal^  the  mouse,  has 
so  increased,  as  to  become  a  pest — ^for  it  cuts  down  the  ripened 
wheat  with  its  sharp  teeth,  and  so  clean,  that  it  almost  appears 
to  have  been  done  with  a  knife ; — the  natives  have  bestowed 
upon  it  the  name  of  toronaihi^  as  being  most  descriptive  of 
its  destructive  powers. 

It  appears  very  probable  that  the  language  was  originally 
monosyllabic;  many  of  the  words  in  Maori,  may  be  traced  to 
simple  roots,  and  not  a  few  of  these  will  be  recognized  as 
roots  in  other,  and  far  distant  languages ;  a  few  are  here  given : 

Ka — ^to  bum.  Ka-pura,  seeds  of  burning  fire.  Ka-pura,  seed. 
Ka-JcanOj  seed  or  grain.     Ka-ha,  strength ;  breath  of  fire. 

ICu — ^narrowing.  Ku-xtiy  narrow.  Ku-raru  raru,  jammed  up 
with  business.  £u'ku,  to  pinch.  J^u-rehe,  to  fold  up  clothes, 
wrinkles.  Ku-kutif  to  crouch  down.  Ku-mu,  anus.  Ku-ku,  a 
shrinking  dread ;  pinching  up.     Ku-papay  to  crouch  down. 

Ni — seems  to  imply  the  bending  of  the  leaf,  as  the  cocoa-nut  leaf; 
an  arch,  as  of  the  mouth.  Ni-ho,  tooth.  A-ni-wa-ni-wa,  rain-bow ; 
the  water  arch. 

Pa — ^A  fence ;  to  touch  ;  ward  off;  turn  aside.  Fa-tUf  to  touch, 
so  as  to  wound.  Fthre,  to  ward  off.  Fa-ta,  to  turn  or  push  aside, 
a  fence.  Fa-re-pa-re,  a  fortification ;  a  barrier  to  push  away  the 
enemy;  hence,  Fa-reare,  to  push  away  the  snow;  a  sandal.  Fthre, 
a  fillet,  or  bandage  for  the  head.     Taia-pa,  a  fence. 

Fo — anight,  season;  a  measure  of  time.  Fo-uri,  darkness  (the 
offspring  of  night).  Mata-po,  blind  (the  eyes  of  night).  Fo-ka,  a 
pit,  to  dig  into  a  bank ;  to  force  through  any  obstruction.  Fo-kake, 
to  force  in  an  opposite  direction.  Fo-ka-noa,  to  break  through,  or  do 
any  thing  without  leave ;  officious. 

Fei — ^to  hinder ;  to  jump.  A-rei,  a  skreen.  Rei-ngay  the  skreen 
between  this  world  and  the  next,  or  a  jmnping  place.  Fei-rei-rua, 
the  double  jump,  or  to  gallop. 

Ft — root  of  Ri-nga-ri-ngay  hand.  Ri-ma,  five.  Turriy  knee,  ^t- 
akey  to  lift,  raise.  Ri-riy  anger,  or  any  weapon  of  war,  from  the  agent 
n.    Ri-aka,  to  strain  the  hand  in  labour.    Ri-e,  two,  the  two  arms. 


202  MONOSYLLABIC   KOOTS. 

Ta — to  strike,  to  print,  to  tap.  Ta-too  (properly  Ta-tu),  to  make 
strokes  that  stand  or  remain,  to  tatoo  by  striking  a  small  chisel  with 
a  hammer.  Ta-iay  strike  him.  Ta-tu,  to  count  by  strokes.  To- 
tawrangUy  the  act  of  striking,  or  fighting.  Ta-piri,  an  assistant;  a 
patch  or  thing  added.*     Ta-nga-ta,  to  print  the  prints,  man. 

Tau — ^to  alight  as  a  bird ;  to  arrive ;  a  year.  Tau-Jiou,  a  stranger. 
Tau-tangata,  a  foreigner.  Tau-tohe,  a  quarrel,  when  one  views 
another  as  a  stranger,  anciently  syn.  with  enemy.  Tau-reka-reka,  to 
fall  into  one's  power  as  a  captive,  for  food.  Syn.  he-moJcai,  which  is 
both  a  pet  and  also  food,  as  birds,  pigs,  and  slaves,  kept  as  pets  until 
they  are  fat  enough  to  kill ;  hence  mokai,  dried  heads  Tau-ki,  a 
proverb  or  saying.     Tau-ke,  a  separate  place. 

7k — the  standing  or  bearing  of  a  person.  Tu-puna,  to  stand,  to 
sprLDg ;  an  ancestor ;  to  stand,  to  be  struck ;  hence,  Tu-pu,  to  grow, 
to  spring.  Fa-tu,  to  touch,  to  strike.  Tu,  god  of  war.  I^t-tu, 
quarrelsome.  Tu-a,  to  stand  near  or  beyond;  any  thing  beloved. 
Hha-kana,  an  elder  brother.  Iki-a-hine,  a  sister.  Ma-tu-a,  parents. 
Tu-a,  also  means  to  stand  beyond  or  behind.  A-tu-a,  beyond,  as  a 
man's  shadow;  hence,  a  spirit,  the  shadow  of  man ;  God,  or  anything 
beyond  our  comprehension.  A  clock,  a  compass,  were  thus  viewed 
as  an  A-tu-a.  Tu-a-tahi,  first  beyond  the  speaker.  Tu-a-rua, 
second,  &c.  Tu-a-whenua,  main-land ;  spoken  by  a  coast  native,  the 
land  beyond.  Ki-tu-ay  behind.  Tu-a-nga  hurUy  tenth.  7\A'araj  the 
back.     Tu-a-roaj  the  back  wall  of  a  house. 

Wa — ^to  carry.     Wa-ha,  mouth  or  passage  of  the  breath. 

Woe — ^to  clear  a  path,  by  laying  the  fern  on  either  side  with  the 
foot.  WaCf  the  entire  leg.  Was-wae,  the  foot,  implies  motion, 
walking.     Wae-renga,  a  clearing  in  the  forest. 

AM — ^fire ;  to  beget  Ahi-ahi,  time  for  lighting  fires,  i.e,  evening. 
Taku-ahi,  my  fire  lighter ;  a  name  for  a  wife,  a  producer  of  posterity. 

Ahu — to  mould  the  earth  with  the  hand,  in  forming  kumara 
hillocks.     Ahtha,  likeness. 

Anga — to  incline.  Anga-anga,  the  skull  appears  to  be  derived 
from  the  child  crawling,  the  skull  being  always  inclined  to  the 
ground ;  hence,  Anga-atu,  to  incline  outwards. 

Are — ^implies  concavity,  or  over  hanging,  an  area.  JFh-are,  house. 
Pu-are,  open      Tau  ich-are,  over  hanging.     Waka-are,  the  opening 

*  Ta  is  still  used  as  a  term  of  address  for  man,  as  «  fa, ;  it  also  signifies  to 
touch,  to  alight,  to  breathe. 


H0N06TLLABIC   KOOIS. 


203 


up  of  the  horizon  after  rain,  leaving  a  apace  between  tlie  earth  and 
heaven,  for  the  wind  to  enter  in  and  clear  the  eky.  Are-are,  exca- 
vating, opening,  concave. 

/ — before  0,  will  almoBt  always  contain  the  idea  of  a  curl,  as  /o, 
tough,  knotty,  curled;  lo,  a  curl  of  hair.  AicA-to,  giddy.  Awh-io- 
wh-io,  to  whirl  round.  K-oi-ngo  o  U  ngakau,  e.  wringing  or  thirsting 
of  the  heart.     Am-io-m-io,  ayn.  Awh-io  leh-io. 

^i^-little,  Iti-iti,  a  plural  adjective.  R-tti,  little.  SirUct, 
plural  adjective. 

Oe — tapering  to  a  point.     JTm,  a  spade.     Oe,  a  paddle. 

JU-hu — a  flute;  dieBolving  away,  fainting,  hazy,  Boft,  mellow, 
dyii^  away.     Ko-rehu,  a  haze.     Reha-reht,  evening  twilight. 

Tama — child.  Tama-iti,  little  child.  Tama-Mnt,  female  child. 
Jiimn-nii',  children.     E  tanta-ma,  my  friends, 

Ura — red,  K-wa,  red  ochre,  Ko-vra,  cray  fish.  Waka-ura,  to 
make  red,  to  blush.  Ura-nga  o  te  ra,  redness  of  the  eky.  Bangi- 
ura,  red  aky.     Wai-kura,  rust.     Ura-wa,  sea  shore. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

HISTORY. 

Having  alluded  to  the  traditions  of  the  natives,  relative 
to  their  country,  anterior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Euro- 
peans; vre  now  briefly  consider  its  subsequent  history.  It 
seems  remarkable  that  so  large  a  portion  of  our  globe  should 
have  remained  totally  unknown  to  the  nations  of  the  west, 
until  a  comparatively  recent  period,  and  that  then  the  thick 
mist,  which  had  shut  out  these  fair  portions  uf  t)ie  globe,  from 
our  sight,  should  all  at  once  be  rolled  aside,  and  reveal  them 
to  us.  Either  the  family  of  man  was  not  before  sufficiently 
advanced,  to  profit  by  the  discovery,  or  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
which  was  destined  to  colonize  them,  was  not  earlier  in  a 
position  to  do  so. 


HISTORY.  205 

It  was  doubtless  appointed  that  the  discoveries  of  Columbus 
should  first  be  peopled,  and  when  the  way  for  their  being  so 
was  opened  out,  that  then  the  attention  of  our  age  should  be 
directed  to  Australasia  and  Polynesia. 

The  earliest  claim  set  up  for  the  discovery  of  New  Zealand^ 
is  advanced  by  the  French,  in  behalf  of  their  countryman^ 
the  Sieur  Binot  Paulnier,  who  sailed  from  France  in  June 
1503,  pursuing  a  south-west  course  to  60^  south  lat.;  he  then 
veered  towards  the  west  north-west  and  north-west,  when  he 
fell  in  with  many  strange  lands,  and  finally  reached  a  large 
continent,  peopled  by  a  numerous  race  of  amiable  savages, 
amongst  whom  he  remained  above  a  year,  and  quitted  with 
regret  July  3,  1504.  The  son  of  one  of  the  chiefs  accompanied 
him  to  France,  and  afterwards  married  into  his  family.  The 
account  of  his  course  is  too  vague  to  make  out  anything 
satisfactory  from  it,  but  there  is  little  probability  that  his 
amiable  savages  were  New  Zealanders ;  as  they  would  have 
been  more  inclined  to  regard  the  Sieur  as  a  fit  subject  to 
exercise  their  gastronomic  powers  upon.  The  description 
seems  rather  to  apply  to  the  natives  of  the  Philippine  Isles, 
and  this  west  north-west  and  north-west  course  was  as  likely 
to  bring  him  there  as  to  New  Zealand. 

In  1576,  Juan  Fernandez  sailed  from  South  Western 
America  for  about  a  month,  in  a  south-west  direction,  and 
reached  a  land,  fertile  and  pleasant,  inhabited  by  white  people, 
well  made,  and  dressed  in  a  kind  of  woven  cloth.  This  also  is 
a  very  vague  account :  the  description  will  apply  to  the  Tahai- 
tian  as  well  as  to  the  New  Zealander,  and  the  length  of  the 
voyage  would  be  more  likely  to  bring  him  to  that  island  than 
to  New  Zealand ;  for  even  in  the  present  day,  six  weeks  is 
considered  a  quick  passage  from  New  Zealand  to  South 
America. 

On  the  14th  of  August  1642,  Abel  Tasman  sailed  from 
Batavia,  with  two  vessels,  the  Heemshirk  and  the  Zeehaen; 
on  the  9th  of  September,  he  was  in  lat.  42^  37'  south,  and 
Ion.  176^  29",  the  variation  being  3°  to  the  east ;  on  the  13th, 
being  in  lat.  42®  10',  variation  7°  SO'  east,  he  discovered  a 
high  mountainous  country.     The  natives  played  on  a  kind  of 


206  HISTORY. 

trumpet,  they  were  of  a  color  between  brown  and  yellow,  their 
hair  was  long,  and  almost  as  thick  as  that  of  the  Japanese, 
combed  up  and  fixed  with  a  quill,  or  some  such  thing,  in  the 
very  same  manner  that  the  Japanese  fastened  their  hair  behind 
their  heads.  On  the  19th  of  December  they  killed  three  of  his 
men  ;  he  gave  the  place  the  name  of  Murderer's  Bay, 

On  the  4th  of  January  1643,  he  sighted  the  North- West 
Cape  and  the  Three  Kings ;  to  the  former  of  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Maria  Van  Dieman,  in  honor  of  the  daughter  of 
the  Governor  of  Batavia ;  and  afterwards  to  his  discovery  was 
given  the  name  of  New  Zealand,  from  tliat  of  his  own  coun- 
try. Tasman,  however,  was  not  aware  of  its  being  islands ;  he 
supposed  that  it  formed  a  portion  of  the  Great  Terra  Australis 
Incognita,  and  therefore  he  called  it  Staten  Land. 

In  1769  and  1777,  Cook  visited  New  Zealand  during  his 
circumnavigations  of  the  world  :  he  surveyed  the  coasts  of  both 
islands,  with  such  accuracy,  tliat  substantially  the  charts  still 
used  are  his ;  he  first  discovered  the  straits  which  separate  the 
two  largest  islands,  to  which  his  own  name  was  afiixed.  He 
took  possession  of  them  for  England,  and  so  high  was  the 
opinion  which  he  formed  of  their  fertility  and  importance, 
that  he  suggested  their  immediate  colonization;  and  in  1788 
the  question  was  agitated  in  Parliament,  whether  New  South 
Wales  or  New  Zealand  should  be  made  a  penal  settlement. 
It  is  also  remarkable  that  that  clear-sighted  and  observing 
man,  recommended  the  spot  which  Auckland  now  occupies, 
as  the  most  suitable  locality  for  the  capital.  Between  the 
visits  of  Cook,  the  massacre  of  Captain  Furneaux's  crew  in 
the  Bay  of  Islands,  together  with  that  of  the  Mascarin,  com- 
manded by  Marion  du  Fresne,  took  place,  which  appears  to 
have  been  occasioned  by  their  own  injudicious  conduct. 

Every  recollection  of  Cook  is  interesting.  The  natives 
have  several  springs  in  the  different  places  where  he  anchored, 
which  still  go  by  his  name.  There  is  one  at  Uaua,  in  Tologa 
Bay,  on  the  East  Coast,  which  is  still  known  as  Cook's  spring ; 
but  the  chief  record  of  his  having  been  on  the  island,  is  the 
cabbage  and  turnip  which  he  sowed  in  various  places :  these 
have  spread  and  become  quite  naturalized,  growing  everywhere 


HICTORY.  207 

in  the  greatest  abundance,  and  affording  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  excellent  vegetables.  There  is  a  saying,  which  I 
fear  is  not  so  much  to  Cook's  credit,  as  it  intimates  that  be 
gave  them  rum — "  Te  wai  toki  a  rangi "  (Cook's  sweet  water 
of  heaven,)  which  has  passed  into  a  proverb  for  anything  sweet. 
It  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  natives  regarded  Tupaia, 
the  Tahaitian  chief,  as  the  captain ;  he  must  therefore  have 
passed  himself  off  as  being  such. 

Marion  has  also  left  some  remembrance  of  himself,  showing 
how  diflFerent  French  taste  is  from  the  English.  He  sowed 
garlick,  which  has  quite  taken  possession  of  the  Bay  of 
Islands ;  the  milk  and  butter  there  is  all  more  or  less  flavored 
with  this  delicious  root.  A  better  gift,  is,  I  believe,  the 
Kowai-ngutu-kaka,  the  parrots  bill  acacia  ( Clianthus  Puni- 
ceusj,  which  most  probably  was  introduced  by  his  ship.  I 
received  a  curious  account  from  a  native,  that  when  a  French 
vessel  was  taken,  and  its  crew  murdered,  the  natives  carried 
the  plunder  to  a  small  island  in  the  Kirikiri  River,  and  there 
emptied  some  of  the  boxes,  which  to  their  disappointment 
they  found  merely  contained  seeds ;  these  they  threw  away  as 
useless;  in  a  few  years,  the  island  was  covered  with  this  beautiful 
plant.  It  was  there  I  first  saw  it  growing  wild,  nor  have  I  ever 
found  it,  except  where  pas  or  cultivations  have  existed.  The 
natives  greatly  admire  its  rich  flowers  as  an  ornament  for  the 
ear,  and  have  thus  carried  it  from  place  to  place  with  them.  The 
Taranaki  slaves,  when  released  by  the  Nga-puhi,  brought  the 
seed  with  them  as  a  remembrance  of  the  land  of  their  captivity. 
The  natives  of  Cook's  Straits  have  a  tradition  that  some  vessel 
arrived  at  Arapawa,  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound,  before  Captain 
Cook ;  they  call  the  captain  Rongo  tute.  The  crew  committed 
such  excesses,  that  the  natives  became  exasperated,  and  took 
the  vessel,  killing  the  entire  crew,  and  eating  them ;  having 
stripped  the  vessel  they  left  the  hull  on  the  beach.  Amongst 
the  plunder  were  a  number  of  dinner  plates,  which  from  their 
pattern  were  called  Te  upoko  o  Rewarewa :  as  this  is  the  name 
of  a  disease  which  many  years  ago  broke  out  amongst  them, 
and  destroyed  great  numbers,  it  may  have  been  given,  from 
its  being  a  spotted  pattern,  the  disease  appearing  to  have 


208  HISTORY. 

resembled  the  small  pox,  by  leaving  marks  all  over  their  bodies. 
These  plates  they  broke  up,  and  having  drilled  holes  through 
the  fragments,  wore  them  as  ear  and  breast  ornaments;  one 
thing  taken  is  said  to  have  been  shaped  like  a  merey  and 
was  therefore  very  highly  prized.  It  is  still  in  the  possession 
of  some  one  belonging  to  the  Nga-te-hine  tribe.  The  natives 
say  this  was  the  first  time  they  ever  saw  iron,  they  made  adzes 
of  the  spike  nails. 

In  1793,  whaling  ships  began  to  visit  New  Zealand.  In 
1809,  the  massacre  of  the  Boyd,  commanded  by  Captain 
Thompson,  took  place ;  this  melancholy  event  was  occasioned 
by  tlie  captain  foolishly  causing  a  chief  named  George,  who 
came  as  a  passenger  in  his  ship  from  Sydney,  to  be  flogged. 
Indignant  at  the  insult,  he  dissembled  his  feelings,  and  recom- 
mended the  captain  to  visit  Wangaroa,  of  which  he  was  a 
principal  chief,  where  he  promised  to  procure  him  spars ;  the 
captain  unwisely  consented,  and  there  he  and  his  crew,  together 
with  many  passengers,  lost  their  lives. 

About  1800,  or  earlier.  Governor  King  visited  the  north 
end  of  the  island,  and  took  away  two  natives,  to  teach  the 
convicts  in  Norfolk  island  the  way  of  working  flax  from  the 
phormium  tenax,  which  also  grew  there.  He  was  a  great  bene- 
factor to  the  country  by  introducing  maize,  pigs,  and  potatoes. 
In  1807,  a  vessel  was  taken  by  the  Tokumaru  natives,  and 
all  the  crew,  but  Rutherford,  were  killed  ;  he  was  spared,  and 
lived  with  the  natives  at  the  East  Cape  for  some  years.  The 
account  published  of  him  in  the  Library  of  Entertaining 
Knowledge,  is  very  valuable,  containing  authentic  information, 
of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people. 

On  the  19th  December,  1814,  Mr.  Marsden,  the  senior 
chaplain  of  New  South  Wales,  first  landed  at  the  Cavallos ; 
and  on  the  Christmas-day  following,  the  Gospel  was  preached 
for  the  first  time  at  Rangihu,  in  the  Bay  of  Islands,  from  the 
appropriate  text,  "  Behold,  I  bring  you  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy." — Luke  ii.,  10. 

In  1820,  Hongi  and  Waikato  accompanied  Mr.  Kendal  to 
England,  when  Professor  Lee  drew  up  the  New  Zealand 
grammar.     Three  years  later,  the  Wesleyans  commenced  a 


HISTORY.  209 

station  at  Wangaroa  ;  it  was  soon  burnt  down,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  leave  the  country. 

In  1825,  a  company  was  formed  in  London  to  colonize 
New  Zealand.  George  Lyall,  Stewart  Majoribanks,  George 
Palmer,  Colonel  Torrens,  the  Earl  of  Durham,  Edward  Ellice, 
&c.,  bought  land  at  Hokianga  Heads,  Hurd*s  Point,  and  at  the 
Thames,  but  the  scheme  fell  to  the  ground. 

In  1827,  the  whale  fishery  was  established  in  the  Middle 
Island,  and  in  Foveaux*s  Straits. 

In  1828,  the  Wesleyans  again  commenced  another  station 
at  Hokianga. 

In  1831,  a  letter  was  sent  to  William  IV.,  applying  for 
British  protection ;  it  was  signed  by  thirteen  of  the  Bay  of 
Islands*  chiefs:  this  led  to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Busby, 
as  British  resident ;  but  having  no  means  placed  at  his  disposal 
for  maintaining  his  authority,  the  natives  facetiously  described 
him  as  the  man-of-war  without  guns. 

In  1835,  a  confederation  of  the  Bay  of  Islands*  tribes  was 
formed,  and  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  which  gave  them 
a  flag,  as  a  token  of  their  independence. 

In  1836,  the  Church  Missions  were  extended  to  the  Thames, 
Tauranga,  Rotorua,  and  Waikato. 

In  1837,  the  New  Zealand  Land  Company  was  formed 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Earl  of  Durham  and  other  gentlemen. 

In  1838,  the  Bishop  of  Australia  paid  a  pastoral  visit,  and 
held  a  confirmation  at  the  Bay  of  Islands ;  he  also  consecrated 
a  burial  ground  at  Kororareka.  At  the  same  time.  Baron  de 
Thierry,  an  adventurer,  who  styled  himself  the  King  of  Nuku- 
hiva,  and  Sovereign  Chief  of  New  Zealand,  came  and  tried  to 
establish  himself  as  such :  he  brought  with  him  several  persons 
as  the  heads  of  different  departments  of  his  government ;  but 
the  natives  laughed  at  his  pretensions,  which  were  soon 
forgotten. 

In  1837,  the  New  Testament  was  first  printed  at  the  Mission 
press  of  Paihia;  it  has  had  a  remarkable  influence  on  the 
country,  and  has  not  only  tended  to  assimilate  the  language 
throughout  the  island,  and  fix  it,  but  has  been  the  grand  means 
of  destroying  heathenism  in  New  Zealand.     About  the  same 

p 


210  HISTORY. 

time  Bishop  Pompalier,  with  several  priests  and  lay  associates, 
arrived,  and  commenced  a  Mission  of  the  Church  of  Rome  at 
Kororareka. 

In  1838,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Marsden  paid  his  seventh  and 
last  visit  to  New  Zealand ;  he  went  to  see  all  the  churches 
which  he  had  been  the  honored  instrument  in  founding.  The 
natives  received  him  with  the  greatest  respect,  and  the  largest 
number  ever  assembled  together,  met  to  honor  the  father  of 
the  Gospel  in  New  Zealand.  He  was  then  nearly  seventy- 
two,  and  died  the  following  year. 

In  1839,  the  New  Zealand  Land  Company  was  re-established, 
and  received  a  charter.  In  August  of  the  same  year,  Captain 
Hobson,  R.N.,  received  a  commission  as  Consul,  and  Lieut.- 
Governor  of  Ntw  Zealand,  depending  on  the  submission  of 
the  natives  to  the  Queen's  supremacy  ;  and  in  February,  1840, 
a  grand  Council  was  held  at  Waitangi,  when  all  the  chiefs 
of  that  part  of  the  island  agreed  to  the  Queen's  supremacy. 
A  treaty  was  entered  into  with  them,  which  they  signed ;  this 
was  mainly  accomplished  by  the  influence  of  the  Missionary 
body.*  It  was  called  the  treaty  of  Waitangi,  from  the  place 
of  the  meeting.  A  second  Council  was  held  at  Hokianga ;  the 
Lieut. -Governor  then  proclaimed  the  British  assumption  of 
the  sovereignty  of  the  isles  of  New  Zealand.  The  seat  of 
government  was  fixed  at  the  Bay  of  Islands,  the  site  being 
named  Russell.  In  the  year  1 839,  the  Mission  at  Kapiti  was 
founded,  at  the  entreaty  of  Tamihana  te  Rauparaha,  who,  with 
another  chief  named  Matene  te  Wiwi,  went  to  the  Bay  of 
Islands  for  a  Missionary,  and  would  not  return  without  one  ; 
also  the  Cook's  Strait  Settlement  was  founded  by  the  New 
Zealand  Company  in  the  end  of  1839. 

In  the  beginning  of  1840,  the  station  at  Wanganui  was 
commenced. 

In  1840,  a  French  expedition  arrived  at  the  Bay  of  Islands. 
Its  destination  being  supposed  to  be  Akaroa,  from  some  remarks 
made  by  the  captain  to  one  of  his  oflScers,  Captain  Stanley 
being  then  in  the  Bay,  at  once  proceeded  there,  and  planted 
the  British  flag.     The  French  expedition  almost  immediately 

*  The  treaty  is  in  my  handwriting. 


HISTORY.  211 

afterwards  arrived,  and  landed  some  settlers,  who  then  com- 
menced a  colony  as  British  subjects.  It  was  during  this 
year  that  the  settlement  at  Wanganui  was  founded,  also  that 
at  Taranaki,  which  was  called  New  Plymouth.  The  Govern- 
ment House  at  Russell  was  burnt  down.  The  seat  of  govern- 
ment was  transferred  to  Auckland — to  Wai-te-Mata  ;  and  the 
government  of  New  Zealand  was  declared  independent  of  that 
of  New  South  Wales. 

1842  marks  the  commencement  of  the  Settlement  of  Nelson, 
as  well  as  the  death  of  Captain  Hobson,  the  first  Governor  of 
New  Zealand ;  also  the  amval  of  the  Bishop,  who  took  up 
his  abode  at  the  Waimate,  where  he  founded  a  college. 

The  Rev.  John  Mason  was  drowned  in  fording  the  Turakina 
river. 

The  fatal  affray  at  Wairau  occurred  in  1843 :  also  the  last 
act  of  cannibalism  was  committed  by  Taraia  at  the  Kati  Kati, 
near  the  Thames.  In  July,  Wanganui  was  disturbed  by  severe 
earthquakes.  The  Colonial  Secretary,  Lieutenant  Shortland, 
became  the  Acting  Governor.  In  December,  Captain  Fitzroy, 
R.N.,  arrived;  he  issued  debentures  as  low  as  half-a-crown. 
The  first  clerk  in  the  Colonial  Office  forged  them  to  a  large 
amount.  The  Colonial  Treasurer  also  was  found  to  be  guilty 
of  great  peculation.  In  1844,  the  Governor  declared  the  ports 
of  New  Zealand  free ;  abolished  all  customs  and  duties,  and 
attempted  to  collect  a  graduated  property  and  income  tax. 
He  was  led  to  adopt  this  measure  from  the  Bay  natives  com- 
plaining, that  since  the  island  had  become  a  British  colony, 
the  whalers  had  entirely  deserted  them ;  and  having  declared 
the  Bay  of  Islands  a  free  port,  to  remove  the  grounds  of  their 
complaint,  he  found  that  the  same  measure  must  be  adopted 
throughout  the  country.     The  plan,  therefore,  soon  failed. 

In  1845,  war  broke  out  in  the  north.  John  Heke  cut  down 
the  flagstaff  at  Kororareka,  having  been  told  that  it  was  the 
sign  of  their  being  slaves;  and  on  the  llth  March  the  town 
was  taken  by  the  natives,  who,  however,  displayed  much 
forbearance.  In  1846,  Captain  Fitzroy  was  superseded  by 
Captain  Grey.  Otakou  Settlement  was  founded ;  it  was 
intended  to  be  an  exclusively  Presbyterian  colony.     At  this 

p  2 


212  HlSlXiRY. 

time  the  war  at  the  Hutt  broke  out ;  Rauparaha  was  seized^ 
and  skirmishes  took  place  at  Porirua,  Paua-taha-nui,  and  in 
the  Horokiri  valley.  Wanganui  was  occupied  as  a  military 
post.  War  broke  out  there  in  1847,  and  much  powder  and 
shot  was  innocently  expended  on  both  sides.  The  Bishop 
and  the  Missionaries  joined  in  a  protest  against  Earl  Grey's 
despatch,  relative  to  the  taking  possession  of  the  waste  lands. 
In  this  year,  Governor  Grey  was  proclaimed  Govemor-in- 
Chief ;  and  in  June,  Lieut.-Governor  Eyre  arrived. 

In  1848,  the  Canterbury  colony  was  founded  at  Port 
Cooper,  as  an  exclusive  Church  of  England  colony.  Lieut.- 
Governor  Enderby  was  also  appointed  to  the  Auckland  Isles. 
Government  House  at  Auckland  was  burnt  down.  Fearful 
earthquakes  visited  Wellington;  most  of  the  brick  houses  were 
either  thrown  down,  or  very  much  damaged  ;  some  were 
levelled  to  the  ground,  but  only  three  lives  were  lost.  In 
1850,  Governor  Enderby  was  recalled,  and  the  whaling  estab- 
lishment in  the  Auckland  Isles  was  given  up.  In  1851,  a 
new  constitution  was  given  to  New  Zealand,  which  was 
divided  into  provinces,  with  a  Superintendent  over  each,  and 
a  General  Assembly.  The  discovery  of  gold  in  Australia  drew 
away  a  portion  of  the  population.  In  1853,  Lieut. -Governor 
Eyre  left  New  Zealand.  The  new  constitution  was  proclaimed. 
The  minimum  price  of  land  was  reduced  to  lOs.  an  acre; 
this  wise  measure  saved  the  little  colony,  and  caused  an 
immediate  influx  of  settlers ;  and  from  that  period  the  tide 
of  emigration  has  continued  to  increase.  The  Governor-in- 
Chief  (Sir  G.  Grey),  and  the  Bishop  left,  and  Colonel  Winyard 
was  constituted  Acting-Governor.  In  1854,  the  General 
Assembly  met  at  Auckland,  and,  after  much  disagreement, 
was  dissolved. 

Such  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  principal  events  which  have 
occurred  in  New  Zealand  since  our  acquaintance  with  it ;  up 
to  the  4th  of  January,  1855,  when  I  left  the  country,  after 
an  absence  of  nearly  twenty  years  from  my  native  land. 

The  colony  was  then  rapidly  progressing,  with  every  pros- 
pect of  its  continuing  to  do  so.  There  are  two  grand  epochs  in 
the  history  of  New  Zealand — ^its  colonization  by  the  Maori  race 


HISTORY.  213 

forming  the  first,  and  the  subsequent  one  by  the  Anglo-Saxon 
being  the  other.* 

It  is  now  fourteen  years  since  the  isles  of  New  Zealand 
became  an  appendage  to  the  British  Crown,  and  it  will  natur- 
ally be  asked,  What  has  been  done  during  that  period  ?  We 
have  had  Governors  and  various  forms  of  government,  but 
what  of  the  governed  ?  When  we  consider  their  remote  posi- 
tion, being  nearly  at  the  antipodes  of  Britain,  we  cannot  expect 
that  the  tide  of  emigration  would  set  in  to  them,  with  the  same 
strength  as  to  the  United  States  of  America,  which  are  both 
nearer  and  more  attractive  to  the  emigrant,  from  the  superior 
advantages  held  out  of  cheap  land,  and  less  trouble  and  ex- 
pense in  obtaining  it ;  whilst  we,  in  our  wisdom,  have  hitherto 
put  the  highest  price  upon  ours  at  the  antipodes,  and  thrown 
every  difficulty  and  expense  in  the  settler's  way;  still,  the 
superior  fineness  of  the  climate  to  that  of  every  other  colony,  has 
triumphed  over  all  these  difficulties  and  disadvantages,  and  four- 
teen years  have  brought  to  these  remote  regions  a  population 
which  is  now  not  less  than  36,000  of  our  countrymen.  Towns 
have  been  founded,  settlements  formed,  and  a  foundation  has 
been  laid  which  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  will  stand. 

New  Zealand  is  now  divided  into  six  provinces ;  the  most 
northerly,  and  at  present  the  most  flourishing,  is  that  of  Auck- 
land, which  has  hitherto  been  the  seat  of  Government.  This 
province  extends  from  the  North  Cape  to  Kawhia,  or  from  the 
latitude  of  34.20'',  being  that  of  Sydney,  to  about  38^.  The 
width  of  the  island  is  not  very  great,  but  its  capabilities  from 
ports  and  rivers  render  it  superior  to  every  other  province. 

*  About  1844,  one  of  my  children  came  running  to  say  that  an  extraordinary 
little  animal  had  made  its  appearance  in  the  verandah,  and  enquired  whether 
it  might  not  be  a  frog :  on  going  to  see,  I  found  it  was  a  mouse,  the  first  we 
had  seen  in  the  place ;  after  a  short  time  it  disappeared,  but  in  about  three  or 
four  days  afterwards,  a  large  colony  of  perhaps,  a  hundred  came  and  took 
possession  of  the  house,  which  they  have  retained  ever  since.  This  resembled 
the  way  New  Zealand  has  been  colonized.  Captain  Cook  first  came  and 
circmnnavigated  the  island;  he  went  away,  but  very  soon  afterwards  our 
countrymen  found  out  the  road  to  it,  and  Missionaries,  whalers,  traders,  and, 
lasUy,  our  Government  came  and  took  possession  of  it.  Every  year  numbers 
pour  in,  and  completely  occupy  the  land. 


214  nisix)RY. 

Auckland  itself  is  very  remarkable  for  its  singular  advantages 
of  position :  seated  on  a  neck  of  land  which  projects  into  a 
land-locked  harbour,  it  has  a  water  frontage  on  both  sides, 
and  into  this  harbour  the  Thames  empties  itself  by  a  gulf, 
bearing  its  name,  which  gives  access,  to  that  part  of  the  interior; 
in  fact,  Auckland  harbour  may  be  said  to  form  the  comer  of 
an  inland  sea,  of  about  one  hundred  miles  extent,  opening  up  all 
the  adjoining  country,  by  numberless  arms  and  creeks,  to  a 
secure  trade  with  the  capital.  Nor  is  this  the  extent  of  its 
local  advantages :  Auckland  stands  on  a  neck  of  land,  which 
is  only  five  miles  across  to  the  large  harbour  of  Manukau,  on 
the  western  side,  and  from  it  there  is  the  most  direct  and 
expeditious  communication  with  the  Cook's  Straits  Settlements, 
which  now  are  regularly  visited  by  a  steamer. 

Manukau  is  close  to  the  Waikato,  the  largest  river  of  New 
Zealand,  which  flows  with  a  deep  stream  from  lake  Taupo ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  before  many  years  have  elapsed,  that 
a  canal  from  the  Piako  to  the  Waikato  will  be  made,  which 
with  a  few  locks,  will  enable  vessels  of  almost  any  burthen 
to  penetrate  to  the  great  central  lake  by  the  Waikato, 
which  flows  through  the  finest  and  most  available  district 
of  the  entire  island.  Another  canal  of  half-a-mile  from  the 
Tamaki  to  Manukau  will  enable  vessels  to  go  from  Auckland 
to  that  Port.  A  short  distance  north  of  Auckland,  on 
the  West  Coast,  is  the  harbour  of  Kaipara,  the  estuary 
of  another  noble  river,  the  Wairoa,  which  has  its  source 
near  the  Bay  of  Islands ;  a  canal  of  a  few  miles  would  connect 
Auckland  with  it  also.  Captain  Cook  was,  therefore,  quite 
justified  in  the  high  opinion  he  formed  of  it  as  the  future  site 
of  a  capital.  The  town  of  Auckland  has  now  a  population  of 
about  8,000,  and  the  villages  around  it  on  the  Manukau  have 
fully  4,000  more.  In  1852,  there  were  20,200  acres  enclosed. 
The  trade  of  Auckland  is  perfectly  surprising ;  the  number  of 
small  coasters,  most  of  which  belong  to  the  natives,  and  are 
laden  with  their  produce,  cannot  fail  striking  the  stranger 
who  visits  the  port  with  astonishment ;  there  is  also  an  increas- 
ing trade  springing  up  with  San  Francisco.  Wangarei,  a  port 
to  the  north  of  Auckland,  has  a  small  population.     The  Bay 


HISTORY.  215 

of  Islands,  with  the  surrounding  country,  may  contain  400 
inhabitants  ;  Wangaroa,  another  harbour,  50;  Mangonui,  in 
Doubtless  Bay,  100;  Kawia,  50;  making  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  province,  taking  in  the  Thames,  Tauranga,  Wain- 
garoa,  Aotea,  and  Waikato,  about  13,000. 

Taranaki,  or  New  Plymouth,  is  the  adjoining  province, 
about  a  day's  run  from  Manukau,  to  the  south-west ;  it  is 
celebrated  for  its  noble  snow-capped  mountain,  formerly  called 
Taranaki,  now  named  Mount  Egmont,  which  seems  to  rise 
from  the  sea  to  the  elevation  of  8,676  feet,  and  terminates 
with  a  perfect  cone :  this  beautiful  mountain,  with  its  rich 
forest  belt,  gives  a  character  to  the  country,  and  excites  the 
admiration  of  every  beholder.  The  land  between  its  base 
and  the  sea  is  heavily  timbered,  but  good.  It  is  there  the 
settlement  has  been  formed ;  but  it  is  at  present  very  contracted 
in  extent,  and  having  no  port,  but  only  an  open  roadstead,  it 
must  chiefly  be  an  agricultural  district;*  its  population  may  be 
between  2,000  and  3,000.  New  Plymouth  is  about  200 
miles  south  of  Auckland,  or  140  miles  by  sea,  in  a  direct 
line;  it  is  150  miles  distant  from  Wanganui,  a  settlement 
formed  at  the  mouth  of  a  noble  river,  which  takes  its  rise 
from  Tongariro,  the  highest  range  of  the  northern  island.  A 
block  of  land  running  more  than  forty  miles  along  the  coast,  by 
nearly  thirty  in  depth,  was  purchased  of  the  natives  in  1 848-9, 
thus  opening  a  wide  range  for  selection,  and  during  the  last 
three  or  four  years,  since  the  new  land  regulation  has  been  in 
force,  oflering  it  for  sale  at  10*.  per  acre,  emigrants  have  kept 
flocking  to  the  district,  so  that  already  the  population  num- 
bers more  than  1,000,  exclusive  of  the  military,  who,  with 
their  families,  amount  to  about  300  more.  As  this  is  the  chief 
river  on  the  coast,  and  the  only  port  for  a  very  extensive  dis- 
trict, it  is  sure  to  become  a  place -of  considerable  importance, 
being  likewise  the  grand  mart  of  the  interior.  The  river,  which 
is  navigable  for  large  canoes  to  within  a  day's  walk  of  Taupo,  a 
distance  of  full  200  miles,  enables  the  interior  natives  to  send 

*  The  land  purchased  of  the  natiTes  is  about  20,000  acres.  The  want  of 
extent  is  a  great  drawback  to  the  future  prosperity  of  the  place,  as  it  obliges 
many  of  the  fresh  settlers  to  go  elsewhere. 


216  HISTORY. 

down  all  their  produce  by  it  to  the  coast,  and  already  is  their 
trade  of  such  value  as  to  have  chiefly  contributed  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  town ;  besides  several  small  vessels,  which  con- 
stantly trade  with  the  neighbouring  provinces,  it  has  two  larger 
ones,  which  sail  direct  to  Sydney,  and  other  Australian  ports. 

The  town  itself  is  rapidly  increasing,  containing  a  neat 
wooden  church,  a  large  block  house,  which  crowns  a  hill  in 
the  middle  of  the  town,  having  much  the  appearance  of  an  old 
castle.  It  has  also  a  custom-house  officer  and  resident  magis- 
trate, a  post-office,  and  police  establishment.  It  is  likewise  a 
military  post,  having  between  two  and  three  hundred  men  of 
the  65th  stationed  there  ;  nor  is  not  too  much  to  predict  that 
before  long  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  densely  peopled  districts 
of  New  Zealand.  The  Island  here  attains  its  greatest  width, 
which  is  about  250  miles ;  this  gives  it  a  greater  equability  of 
climate  than  any  other  Settlement  in  New  Zealand.  Less 
rain  falls  at  Wanganui  than  in  Auckland  or  Wellington ;  it 
has  more  of  the  continental  climate ;  the  noble  river,  the 
number  of  small  lakes  in  its  neighbourhood,  the  distant  moun- 
tains clothed  with  forests,  having  Tongariro  with  its  snowy 
heights  soaring  above  all* — enhance  the  beauty  of  the  district, 
and  cause  its  settlers  to  be  warmly  attached  to  it. 

Wanganui  forms  the  Northern  portion  of  the  Province  of 
Wellington,  which  is  120  miles  to  tJie  south-east  of  it,  and  is 
seated  on  the  south-west  comer  of  a  large  harbour,  which 
has  the  appearance  of  a  lake,  shut  in  on  all  sides  by  moun- 
tains rising  precipitously  from  its  shores,  to  an  elevation  of 
full  1,000  feet.  The  level  land  which  forms  the  site  of  this 
town  is  rather  wider,  and  thus  affords  a  long  narrow  space 
for  building  purposes.  The  town  skirts  the  harbour,  and 
is  several  miles  long,  but  does  not  contain  more  than  5,000 
inhabitants ;  in  fact,  its  population  is  not  so  large  as  it  was  some 
years  ago :  but  this  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  good  sign,  instead  of 
leading  an  idle  inactive  life  in  town,  its  energetic  inhabitants 
have  spread  out,  to  occupy  spots  more  suitable  for  agricultural 
purposes,  and  some  have  gone  even  as  far  as  Wairarapa, 
Ahuriri  and  Wanganui. 

•  The  elevation  of  Ruapehu,  is  10,236  feet. 


HISTORY.  217 

About  ten  miles  from  Wellington,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
harbour,  is  the  valley  of  the  Hutt,  a  very  fertile  district  of 
trifling  width,  but  considerable  length,  where  the  chief  agri- 
cultural proceedings  have  been  carried  on  ;  the  Hutt  has  a 
population  of  about  1,600.  Porirua,  a  lake-like  harbour  of  no 
depth,  but  considerable  beauty,  at  a  distance  of  twenty  miles 
from  Wellington,  has  a  scattered  population  of  near  1,000. 
Wairarapa  and  Ahuriri  on  the  east  coast,  are  two  fine  districts, 
which  have  drawn  off  more  of  the  Wellington  settlers  than 
even  the  Gold  Mines.  Although  Wellington  is  celebrated  for 
its  wet  and  windy  climate,  it  has  the  credit  of  being  one  of 
the  most  healthy  of  all  the  settlements  of  this  universally 
acknowledged  healthy  country.  The  Cape  shrubs  here 
flourish  with  great  luxuriance,  and  the  blue  gums  of  Van 
Diemen's  Land,  seem  to  have  more  beauty  and  bid  fair  to 
attain  a  greater  size  here,  than  even  in  their  own  island.  Some 
of  the  Wellington  gardens  are  extremely  beautiful,  but  they 
are  all  in  sheltered  positions.  Party  spirit  has  always  run  high 
in  this  settlement,  but  it  is  generally  acknowledged  that  this 
is  chiefly  owing  to  the  high  winds,*  which  render  the  minds 
of  the  settlers  so  irritable,  that,  were  it  not  for  politics,  which 
act  as  the  safety  valve  of  the  place,  there  is  no  saying  what 
would  be  the  result.  It  has  been  remarked  that  those  living 
in  the  most  exposed  positions  suffer  most,  and  become  the 
bitterest  politicians,  whilst  others  who  have  selected  more 
sheltered  localities,  are  the  least  acted  upon  by  these  baro- 
metrical changes.  The  best  and  longest  roads  in  New  Zea- 
land belong  to  this  province. 

The  next  settlement  in  importance  is  that  of  Nelson  in  the 
middle  island,  which  is  seated  at  the  termination  of  a  long  bay. 
The  harbour  of  this  port  is  a  very  remarkable  one,  being  formed 
by  a  long  boulder  bank,  stretching  out  from  a  promontory,  in 

*  Some  years  ago  when  one  of  these  high  winds  was  blowing  at  Welling- 
ton, a  poor  woman  was  killed  by  a  whale  boat,  which  was  blown  like  a  feather 
along  one  of  the  streets.  The  respected  minister  of  the  place  told  me,  that  on 
another  occasion,  he  was  compelled  to  run  for  shelter  into  a  shop  from  a  boat, 
which  he  saw  thus  rolling  along  the  street.  The  prevailing  winds  are  from 
the  S.E.  or  N.W.  On  an  average  they  blow  202  t'ays  from  the  N.  or  N.W., 
and  141  from  the  S.  or  S.E.  The  two  printing-oflices  arc  also  situated  most 
unfortunately  in  this  respect,  being  near  a  point  named  Windy  Corner. 


218  MisroKY. 

a  directiun  nearly  parallel  tu  the  coast.  At  its  termination  a 
remarkable  rock  arises  which  contracts  the  passage  into  the 
harbour,  but  leaves  a  deep  though  narrow  entrance  to  it. 
Inside  is  the  town,  which  has  quite  the  appearance  of  au  old 
established  place ;  at  some  distance  from  the  town  is  the  valley 
of  Waimc.i  which  is  now  divided  into  valuable  properties,  and 
is  highly  cultivated.  The  population  of  Nelson  and  its  vicinity 
cannot  be  less  than  5,000;  theclimateof  this  settlement  is  consi- 
dered verjfine,  for  although  to  the  south  of  the  other  provinces, 
yet,  being  sheltered  from  the  cold  winds,  by  high  mountains 
at  the  hack  and  fronting  the  sun,  it  enjoys  an  artificial  climate. 
The  pomegranitchcre  grows  with  a  degree  of  luxuriance,  which 
is  perfectly  astonishing,  and  the  fruit  attains  a  size  and  perfec- 
tion which  is  not  exceeded  in  Australia,  The  next  settlement 
in  position,  though  not  in  point  of  time,  is  that  of  Port  Cooper, 
this  being  the  liist  is  also  the  least  advanced.  The  port  is  called 
Lyttleton,  and  is  separated  by  very  high  ground,  from  the 
central  plains  on  which  the  future  capital  is  to  stand :  a  town 
has  been  commenced,  and  called  Christ  Church ;  this  district  is 
the  chief  one  for  sheep,  for  which  the  plains  arc  most  suitable; 
the  population  is  about  3,000.  Attached  to  this  province  is 
the  small  French  Settlement  on  Bunks'  Peninsula,  called 
Akaroa ;  its  population  is  about  500,  The  most  southerly  is 
the  Scotch  one  at  Otakou,  the  capital  of  which  is  named 
Dunedin;  it  may  have  a  population  of  2,000.  Molyneaux 
RiverandDusky  Bay  have  also  a  small  population.  Stewarts 
Island  may  have  200.  The  Auckland  Isles,  since  the  departure 
of  Governor  Enderby,  have  very  few,  if  any,  settlers  remain- 
ing. All  these  Settlements  enjoy  a  mild  climate,  but  chiefly 
suffer  from  high  winds,*  and  want  of  summer  heat.  But 
their  great  extent,  affords  ample  room  for  thousands  of  our 
countrymen  to  find  happy  homes. 

*  It  ill  a  joke  against  the  Canlerburj  Plains,  that  the  slieep  have  ti>  hold  on 
to  the  toi-toi  bushes,  to  avuid  being  blown  awaj. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  GEOLOGY  OP  NEW   ZEALAND.' 

The  solitary  po-ition  of  these  Islands,  separated  by  suth  a 
wide  expanse  of  ocean  from  the  continent  of  America  on  the 
east,  and  Australia  on  the  west,  their  size  and  extent  forming 
a  belt  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles  in  length,  together 
with  our  recent  acquaintance  with  their  existence,  give  them 
a  great  Geological  interest. 

When  we  look  at  the  map  of  the  World,  we  cannot  fail  to 
ohserve  the  apparently  continuous  line  of  islands  which  stretch 

*  Mnch  or  this  paper  vita  ariginallj'  [>ublubed  in  the  New  Zealand  Maga*int>, 
Wellrngton,  l»uO. 


220  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

southward  from  Japan  to  New  Zealand.*  These  at  once  strike 
the  eye  of  the  Geologist,  as  being  the  disrupted  fragments  of 
an  ancient  continental  line ;  nor  can  we  help  noticing  that  its 
general  direction  is  parallel  to  another,  extending  from  the 
Asiatic  Continent,  along  the  entire  length  of  Australia,  and 
further  that  these  two,  closely  correspond,  in  the  direction  they 
take,  with  two  others,  which  are  on  a  still  grander  scale,f  the 
first  comprising  the  entire  western  coast  of  the  two  Americas, 
the  other  taking  in,  the  western  sides  of  Africa  and  Europe. 

These  four  continental  lines  may,  therefore,  be  termed  the 
grand  costae,  or  ribs  of  the  world,  since  they  have  withstood 
all  those  convulsions  which  have  so  materially  changed  the 
face  of  our  globe,  and  very  probably  submerged  the  far  greater 
portion  of  the  southern  hemisphere.  They  moreover  possess 
such  distinctive  features  both  in  the  character  of  their  Botany, 
Zoology,  and  Ornithology,  as  to  mark  each  of  them  as  being 
a  separate  centre.  Australia  differs  in  its  various  productions, 
from  every  other  part  of  the  globe.  New  Zealand,  also,  as 
widely  differs  from  it  as  the  former  does  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

If  any  weight  be  due  to  these  conjectures,  the  New  Zealand 
Isles,  as  the  remains  of  one  of  these  continental  lines,  may 
claim  an  equal  antiquity  with  them,  and  thus  destroy  the 
common  idea  of  their  comparatively  recent  origin.  That  the}' 
have  been  constantly  undergoing  changes  in  their  length  and 
breadth,  and  that  they  are  still  far  from  being  in  a  state  of 

*  An  ancient  continuous  line  of  land  will  account  for  the  presence  of  wing- 
less birds,  such  as  the  Apterix  Australis  or  Kiwi  and  the  Dinomis  or  Moa  on 
these  islands.  Capt.  King,  R.N.,  states  there  are  soundings  from  the  Three 
Kings  to  Norfolk  Island. 

t  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Gold  regions  chiefly  lie  in  those  lines.     Spain, 

and  the  coast  of  Africa,  which  by  way  of  distinction,  is  named  the  Gold  Coast, 

forming  one.     The  American  line  taking  in  Peru,  Mexico,  and  California. 

The  Australian  line.  Port  Philip,  New  South  Wales,  Borneo,  and  several  of 

the  Indian  Isles :  and  further  acquaintance  Tvith  the  Geology  of  New  Zealand 

may  show  that  it  also  abounds  in  this  precious  ore  for  if  we  regard  these 

continental  lines  as  being   waves  of  primal  upheavement,  and  gold  being 

probably  the  most  ancient  metal  it  is  naturally  to  be  looked  for  in  the  most 

ancient  fissures  of  the  earth's  surface  in  which  it  was  formed. 

[Since  this  note  was  printed,  the  Authors  coiOectnrcs  Imvc  i)roved  correct,  nnd  he  hn«  the 
credit  of  Wing  the  first  who  mode  them.  The  Gold  Helds  of  Auntnilla  nnd  New  /.ealand  havinf; 
been  uince  discovered,  j 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF    NEW    ZEALAND.  221 

quiescence  experience  proves,  but  that  tlieir  general  frame- 
work is  as  ancient  as  that  of  other  parts  of  the  earth's  surface, 
appears  highly  probable.* 

The  Geological  features  in  New  Zealand  are  clearly  marked ; 
so  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  detecting  the  character  of  the 
agent  employed. 

New  Zealand  may  be  properly  called  a  volcanic  country, 
since  it  contains  a  long  line  of  craters  which  extend  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other;  in  fact,  nearly  half  the 
mountains  in  the  country  are  extinct  craters :  volcanic  action, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  greater  in  particular  localities. 
In  the  north  the  centre  was  at  Otaua,  near  the  Bay  of  Islands, 
which  is  a  very  remarkable  district.  An  immense  crater  rises 
above  the  level  of  the  surrounding  country,  with  steep 
precipitous  cliffi  of  pipeclay,  which,  on  the  summit,  incline 
inwards,  so  as  to  form  a  vast  bowl  several  miles  in  diameter. 
This  appears  to  have  been,  formerly,  one  huge  crater;  but 
when  that  became  exhausted,  a  series  of  smaller  ones  broke 
out  on  the  sides,  which  are  still,  more  or  less,  in  operation, 
and  are  chiefly  filled  with  water  of  great  depth  from  which 
streams  of  gas  escape  in  every  part.  One  of  these  crater 
lakes  contains  white  mud,  which  bubbles  up  in  all  directions ; 
in  another,  the  heated  gas  is  emitted  from  innumerable  pores, 
the  highest  degree  of  temperature  being  196  Fah.,  the  ground 
seems  to  be  constantly  subsiding ;  probably  in  the  same  degree 
as  the  mud  is  ejected  from  the  neighbouring  spots.  It  is  very 
evident,  that  after  the  grand  crater  became  extinct,  it  was 
covered  with  a  most  luxuriant  growth  of  Kauri  timber,  the 
leaves  of  which,  in  some  places,  formed  a  turf  stratum  of 
nearly  twelve  feet  in  thickness ;  and  in  every  part  the  immense 
roots  are  still  perfect  in  the  ground,  the  smaller  ones  being 
encased  with  pure  sulphur.  The  lakes  also  are  filled  with 
timber ;  and  even  the  leaves  and  cones  of  the  trees  are  as 
fresh  as  though  they  had  just  fallen  from  them.f 

•  The  acute  termination  of  all  the  lands  of  our  globe  towards  the  South  pole 
tend  to  shew  that  the  destruction,  however  caused,  emanated  from  that  quarter. 

t  These  parts  are  resorted  to  by  scrofulous  and  diseased  natives,  especially 
females  from  the  Bay  of  Islands,  for  the  benefit  of  vapour  baths,  to  form  which 


222  THE   OEOlJOQY   OF    SKW   ZEALAND. 

The  surrounding  plain  of  Taiamai,  is  covered  with  scoria 
and  large  masses  of  rock,  which  have,  evidently,  been  ejected 
from  some  of  the  many  neighbouring  craters.  There  are  also 
large  quantities  of  vesicular  iron,  the  pores  of  which  appear  to 
have  been  filled  up  with  pipe-clay  mud. 

Near  Pa  Karaka  there  is  a  remarkable  volcanic  cone,  up- 
wards of  four  hundred  feet  high.  The  mountain  is  hollow, 
and  may  be  descended  full  three  hundred  feet,  the  sides  arc 
vitrified,  and  the  small  space  at  the  bottom  is  covered  with 
masses  of  rock  and  timber.  At  a  little  distance  from  the 
mountain  there  is  a  small  lake  whose  surplus  waters  have 
a  subterraneous  outlet,  and  from  the  neighbouring  scoriaceous 
rock,  gas  is  emitted  in  such  quantities  and  force,  that  a  bladder 
applied  to  one  of  the  orifices  may  be  easily  filled. 

Pukenui  is  another  extinct  volcano,  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood, havingatits  base  afinelakecallcd  Mapere.  On theopposite 
side  rises  a  remarkable  hill  called  Putai,  formed  entirely  from 
the  deposit  of  boiling  springs,  which  once  abounded  there. 
The  mass  of  the  hill  is  a  soft,  ochreous  substance,  filled  with 
minute  plates  of  mica ;  on  the  top  arc  several  remarkable 
apertures  of  great  depth,  through  which,  doubtless,  the  hot 
water  was  ejected;  at  the  base  are  innumerable  chasms  of 
considerable  depth,  from  some  of  which  gas  still  escapes. 
Lava  streams  and  basaltic  rocks  abound  in  all  this  region, 
clearly  marking  it  as  having  once  formed  a  grand  centre  of 
action  ;  the  range  of  which  extended  as  far  north  as  Wangaroa 
Harbour,  which  contains  incontestable  proofs  of  fearful  dis- 
ruptions and  uphcavoments. 

Passing  on  to  the  vicinity  of  Auckland  the  attention  is 
at  once  arrested  by  the  number  of  ancient  craters,  which  arise 
from  the  surrounding  plain.  There  are  several  remarkable 
subterraneous  lava  passages,*  and  partial  subsidings,  which 

they  simply  scoop  out  a  little  hollow  in  the  sand,  about  a  foot  deep,  lining  it 
with  old  mats,  upon  which  the  patient  is  placed  with  a  blanket  thrown  over 
the  person  to  keep  in  the  heat.  The  invalids  generally  remain  about  a  month 
at  the  baths,  and  have  little  temporary  huts  erected,  which  give  a  singular 
appearance  to  this  lonely  and  desolate  region. 

*  Those  called  the  "Three  Kings,"  in  particular,  are  well  worth  the  Geolo- 
gist's attention;  they  are  evidently  subterraneous  lava  courses;  in  some  places 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF   NEW   ZEALAND.  223 

are  well  worth  being  noticed.  The  lava  has,  in  many  places, 
flowed  under  ground  at  such  an  inconsiderable  depth  as  to 
bake  all  the  superincumbent  earth  to  the  consistency  of  brick, 
which  frequently  contains  beautiful  impressions  of  the  leaves 
of  trees,  which  formerly  grew  on  the  surface. 

The  next  centre  appears  to  be  Waka-ari,  White  or  Sulphur 
Island,  which  with  its  neighbour  Moutohora,  Whale  Island,  is 
still  in  action ;  the  latter  indeed  is  chiefly  filled  with  solfatara  and 
hot  springs ;  but  the  former  is  a  volcano  rising  out  of  the  sea, 
from  the  crater  of  which  a  volume  of  smoke  is  always  ascending, 
which  is  visible  at  a  great  distance.  Large  masses  of  sulphur 
are  there  produced,  and  the  varied  form  and  character  of  the 
molten  rocks  of  this  crater  are  very  interesting. 

The  grand  centre  of  volcanic  action  extends  from  White 
Island  to  Rotorua,  and  thence  by  Taupo  and  Tongariro  to 
Wanganui,  a  distance  of  nearly  200  miles,  forming  a  continu- 
ous Hne  across  the  entire  width  of  the  island.  The  number 
of  boiling  gulfs,  solfatara,  and  boiling  mud  pools  in  that  line 
is  extraordinary.  They  are  seen  in  every  direction — in  the 
forest,'  in  the  plain,  and  in  the  water.  A  large  number  of 
them  are  concentrated  at  a  place  called  Tikitere,  and  a  most 
extraordinary  assemblage  of  them  is  found  at  Ohinemotu,  which 
renders  that  place  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  New  Zealand. 
At  Paeroa,  near  the  Waikato,  there  is  one  of  the  largest  of 
these  mud  pools ;  it  is  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  feet  wide  ;  in 
the  centre,  first  an  enormous  bubble  of  mud  arises,  which 
gradually  increases  in  height  and  size,  and  at  last  becomes  a  jet 
of  mud  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  with  several  smaller  ones  on 
each  side ;  the  mud  is  thrown  up  in  large  masses  on  the  sides, 
where  it  dries,  and  assumes  a  cubical  form  ;  it  readily  separates 
into  laminae  of  different  thickness,  which  bear  a  very  close 
resemblance  to  slate,  and,  perhaps,  in  this  mud  vortex  is  to  be 
seen,  on  a  small  scale,  what  was  once  the  state  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  earth's  crust,  during  the  formation  of  slate. 

At  Orakokorako,  on  the  Waikato,  the  boiling  springs  are 

the  pressure  of  the  lava  has  caused  the  soil  above  to  fall  in,  leaving  wide 
apertures,  by  which  the  visitor  now  descends  into  them ;  the  natives  formerly 
\ised  them  as  places  of  sepulture. 


224  THE  GEOLOGY  Ol'  NEW  ZEALAND. 

almost  innumerable  ;  some  of  them  shoot  up  a  volume  of 
water  to  a  considerable  height,  and  are  little,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  the  Geysers  of  Iceland.  A  village  is  placed  in  the  midst  of 
them ;  the  reason  assigned  for  living  in  such  a  singular  locality 
was,  that  as  there  is  no  necessity  for  fires,  all  their  cooking 
being  done  in  the  hot  springs,  the  women's  hacks  are  not 
broken  with  carrying  fuel,  and  further,  from  the  warmth  of 
the  ground  they  were  enabled  to  raise  their  crops  several 
weeks  earlier  than  their  neighbours ;  but,  as  a  counterbalance 
for  these  advantages,  many  fatal  accidents  occur  from  persons, 
especially  strangers  and  children,  falling  into  these  fearful 
caldrons,  and  being  boiled. 

Rotomahana,  a  warm  water  lake  of  considerable  size,  is 
surrounded  with  innumerable  boiling  gulfs ;  in  fact,  it  is  itself 
nothing  but  a  crater,  the  sides  of  which  are  full  of  action  ;  it  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  singular  places  in  the  world,  its  boil- 
ing gulfs,  and  natural  snow-white  terraces  formed  from  silicious 
deposits  are  as  wonderful  as  they  are  beautiful.  Thence  to 
Hohake  and  Rotokawa  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  jets  of 
vapour,  and  so  on  to  Taupo,  where  fearful  boiling  gulfs  abound 
at  the  two  extremities  of  that  noble  lake,  at  Rangatira  and 
Tokanu.  One  of  the  boiling  springs  at  Tokanu  possesses  the 
property  of  changing  the  nature  of  anything  which  may  be 
placed  in  it,  and  converting  it  into  a  beautiful  silicious  sub- 
stance of  pure  white,  and  this  is  done  without  any  apparent 
addition  of  matter ;  but  if  the  article  be  not  entirely  immersed, 
having  only  the  water  flowing  about  it,  then  it  becomes 
enlarged  by  a  silicious  deposit  upon  its  surface.  The  pro- 
cess of  thus  converting  wood  into  stone  is  very  rapid,  and 
in  some  localities,  water  does  not  appear  to  be  a  necessary 
agent  in  accomplishing  this  change.  At  Rotorua,  large  pieces 
of  wood  are  thus  lignified  by  the  aid  of  heated  gas,  highly 
charged  with  sulphur,  alum,  and  iron,  or  other  chemical  sub- 
stances, which  penetrates  the  pores  of  the  wood,  and  fills  them 
up  with  silex,  converting  them  into  agates,  and  even  giving 
them  the  transparent  form  of  chalcedony. 

Again  at  Roto-aira,  a  beautiful  lake  at  the  base  of  the 
Tongariro  range,  which  attains  an  elevation  of  10,236  feet, 


224  THE   OEOIXXJY   OF   NEW   ZEAL.^ND. 

almost  innumerable  ;  some  of  them  shoot  up  a  volume  of 
water  to  a  considerable  height,  and  are  little,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  the  Geysers  of  Iceland.  A  village  is  placed  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;  the  reason  assigned  for  living  in  such  a  singular  locality 
was,  that  as  there  is  no  necessity  for  fires,  all  their  cooking 
being  done  in  the  hot  springs,  the  women's  hacks  are  not 
broken  with  carrying  fuel,  and  further,  from  the  warmth  of 
the  ground  they  were  enabled  to  raise  their  crops  several 
weeks  earlier  than  their  neighbours ;  but,  as  a  counterbalance 
for  these  advantages,  many  fatal  accidents  occur  from  persons, 
especially  strangers  and  children,  falling  into  these  fearful 
caldrons,  and  being  boiled. 

Rotomahana,  a  warm  water  lake  of  considerable  size,  is 
surrounded  with  innumerable  boiling  gulfs ;  in  fact,  it  is  itself 
nothing  but  a  crater,  the  sides  of  which  are  full  of  action  ;  it  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  singular  places  in  the  world,  its  boil- 
ing gulfs,  and  natural  snow-white  terraces  formed  from  silicious 
deposits  are  as  wonderful  as  they  are  beautiful.  Thence  to 
Hohake  and  Rotokawa  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  jets  of 
vapour,  and  so  on  to  Taupo,  where  fearful  boiling  gulfs  abound 
at  the  two  extremities  of  that  noble  lake,  at  Rangatira  and 
Tokanu.  One  of  the  boiling  springs  at  Tokanu  possesses  the 
property  of  changing  the  nature  of  anything  which  may  be 
placed  in  it,  and  converting  it  into  a  beautiful  silicious  sub- 
stance of  pure  white,  and  this  is  done  without  any  apparent 
addition  of  matter ;  but  if  the  article  be  not  entirely  imm^-sed, 
having  only  the  water  flowing  about  it,  then  it  becomes 
enlarged  by  a  silicious  deposit  upon  its  surface.  The  pro- 
cess of  thus  converting  wood  into  stone  is  very  rapid,  and 
in  some  localities,  water  does  not  appear  to  be  a  necessary 
agent  in  accomplishing  this  change.  At  Rotorua,  large  pieces 
of  wood  are  thus  lignified  by  the  aid  of  heated  gas,  highly 
charged  with  sulphur,  alum,  and  iron,  or  other  chemical  sub- 
stances, which  penetrates  the  pores  of  the  wood,  and  fills  them 
up  with  silex,  converting  them  into  agates,  and  even  giving 
them  the  transparent  form  of  chalcedony. 

Again  at  Roto-aira,  a  beautiful   lake  at  the  base  of  the 
Tongariro  range,  which  attains  an  elevation  of  10,236  feet, 


224  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

almost  innumerable  ;  some  of  them  shoot  up  a  volume  of 
water  to  a  considerable  height,  and  are  little,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  the  Geysers  of  Iceland.  A  village  is  placed  in  the  midst  of 
them ;  the  reason  assigned  for  living  in  such  a  singular  locality 
was,  that  as  there  is  no  necessity  for  fires,  all  their  cooking 
being  done  in  the  hot  springs,  the  women's  hacks  are  not 
broken  with  carrying  fuel,  and  further,  from  the  warmth  of 
the  ground  they  were  enabled  to  raise  their  crops  several 
weeks  earlier  than  their  neighbours ;  but,  as  a  counterbalance 
for  these  advantages,  many  fatal  accidents  occur  from  persons, 
especially  strangers  and  children,  falling  into  these  fearful 
caldrons,  and  being  boiled. 

Rotomahana,  a  warm  water  lake  of  considerable  size,  is 
surrounded  with  innumerable  boiling  gulfs ;  in  fact,  it  is  itself 
nothing  but  a  crater,  the  sides  of  which  are  full  of  action  ;  it  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  singular  places  in  the  world,  its  boil- 
ing gulfs,  and  natural  snow-white  terraces  formed  from  silicious 
deposits  are  as  wonderful  as  they  are  beautiful.  Thence  to 
Hohake  and  Rotokawa  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  jets  of 
vapour,  and  so  on  to  Taupo,  where  fearful  boiling  gulfs  abound 
at  the  two  extremities  of  that  noble  lake,  at  Rangatira  and 
Tokanu.  One  of  the  boiling  springs  at  Tokanu  possesses  the 
property  of  changing  the  nature  of  anything  which  may  be 
placed  in  it,  and  converting  it  into  a  beautiful  silicious  sub- 
stance of  pure  white,  and  this  is  done  without  any  apparent 
addition  of  matter ;  but  if  the  article  be  not  entirely  immersed, 
having  only  the  water  flowing  about  it,  then  it  becomes 
enlarged  by  a  silicious  deposit  upon  its  surface.  The  pro- 
cess of  thus  converting  wood  into  stone  is  very  rapid,  and 
in  some  localities,  water  does  not  appear  to  be  a  necessary 
agent  in  accomplishing  this  change.  At  Rotorua,  large  pieces 
of  wood  are  thus  lignified  by  the  aid  of  heated  gas,  highly 
charged  with  sulphur,  alum,  and  iron,  or  other  chemical  sub- 
stances, which  penetrates  the  pores  of  the  wood,  and  fills  them 
up  with  silex,  converting  them  into  agates,  and  even  giving 
them  the  transparent  form  of  chalcedony. 

Again  at  Roto-aira,  a  beautiful  lake  at  the  base  of  the 
Tongariro  range,  which  attains  an  elevation  of  10,236  feet, 


224  THE   GKOUXJY   OF    NEW   ZEALAND. 

almost  innumerable  ;  some  of  them  shoot  up  a  volume  of 
water  to  a  considerable  height,  and  are  little,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  the  Geysers  of  Iceland.  A  village  is  placed  in  the  midst  of 
them ;  the  reason  assigned  for  living  in  such  a  singular  locality 
was,  that  as  there  is  no  necessity  for  fires,  all  their  cooking 
being  done  in  the  hot  springs,  the  women's  backs  are  not 
broken  with  carrying  fuel,  and  further,  from  the  warmth  of 
the  ground  they  were  enabled  to  raise  their  crops  several 
weeks  earlier  than  their  neighbours ;  but,  as  a  counterbalance 
for  these  advantages,  many  fatal  accidents  occur  from  persons, 
especially  strangers  and  children,  falling  into  these  fearful 
caldrons,  and  being  boiled. 

Rotomahana,  a  warm  water  lake  of  considerable  size,  is 
surrounded  with  innumerable  boiling  gulfs ;  in  fact,  it  is  itself 
nothing  but  a  crater,  the  sides  of  which  are  full  of  action  ;  it  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  singular  places  in  the  world,  its  boil- 
ing gulfs,  and  natural  snow-white  terraces  formed  from  silicious 
deposits  are  as  wonderful  as  they  are  beautiful.  Thence  to 
Hohake  and  Rotokawa  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  jets  of 
vapour,  and  so  on  to  Taupo,  where  fearful  boiling  gulfs  abound 
at  the  two  extremities  of  that  noble  lake,  at  Rangatira  and 
Tokanu.  One  of  the  boiling  springs  at  Tokanu  possesses  the 
property  of  changing  the  nature  of  anything  which  may  be 
placed  in  it,  and  converting  it  into  a  beautiful  silicious  sub- 
stance of  pure  white,  and  this  is  done  without  any  apparent 
addition  of  matter ;  but  if  the  article  be  not  entirely  immersed, 
having  only  the  water  flowing  about  it,  then  it  becomes 
enlarged  by  a  silicious  deposit  upon  its  surface.  The  pro- 
cess of  thus  converting  wood  into  stone  is  very  rapid,  and 
in  some  localities,  water  does  not  appear  to  be  a  necessary 
agent  in  accomplishing  this  change.  At  Rotorua,  large  pieces 
of  wood  are  thus  lignified  by  the  aid  of  heated  gas,  highly 
charged  with  sulphur,  alum,  and  iron,  or  other  chemical  sub- 
stances, which  penetrates  the  pores  of  the  wood,  and  fills  them 
up  with  silex,  converting  them  into  agates,  and  even  giving 
them  the  transparent  form  of  chalcedony. 

Again  at  Roto-aira,  a  beautiful   lake  at  the  base  of  the 
Tongariro  range,  which  attains  an  elevation  of  10,236  feet, 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.  226 

boiling  springs  abound.  Tongariro  itself  is  not  so  lofty,  but 
from  its  cone,  it  constantly  belches  forth  a  volume  of  smoke, 
and  occasionally  of  flame,  which  has  been  distinctly  seen  at 
a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles,*  and  although  the 
powers  of  this  fearful  volcano  appear  to  have  long  lain 
dormant,  there  is  no  security  that  it  will  not  break  out  again. 
The  size  and  active  operation  of  Mount  Erebus  appear  to 
be  the  greatest  security  of  New  Zealand,  and  that  crater 
may  be  viewed  as  its  safety-valve ;  for,  if  anything  were  to 
impede  its  operation,  the  entire  line  of  New  Zealand  craters 
would,  very  probably,  break  out  again.  Lofty  as  Tongariro 
now  appears,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  its  present  height 
is  much  less  than  it  was  formerly ;  or  rather,  that  the  grand 
crater  of  former  days  has  sunk  down,  and,  in  doing  so,  caused 
Mount  Taranaki  to  rise  up.  This  is  agreeable  with  native 
tradition,f  and,  moreover,  with  the  general  features  of  the 
spot,  a  space  of  nearly  twelve  miles  intervening  between  the 
two  principal  mountains,  Tongariro  and  Ruapehu.  This,  at 
a  distance,  appears  to  be  an  elevated  table  land,  but  it  is,  in 
fact,  a  deep  lake. 

The  matter  ejected  from  these  craters  has  been  immense, 
chiefly  pumice  stones  and  sand  :  formerly,  the  central  plains 
had  a  super-stratum  of  yellow  ochre,  and  were  heavily  timbered. 
The  hot  pumice  ejected  from  the  neighbouring  volcanoes,  ap- 
pears to  have  first  charred  the  forest  and  then  covered  it  to  the 
depth,  in  many  places,  of  a  hundred  feet,  and  wherever  there 

*  Formerly,  when  Tongariro  emitted  flame,  the  natives  regarded  it  as  a 
command  from  their  Atua  to  make  war ;  and  when  the  coast  natives  saw  it, 
they  always  expected  an  invasion  from  Taupo. 

f  The  tradition  is  that  Tongariro  became  jealous  of  Taranaki,  and  accused 
him  of  being  too  intimate  with  Pianga,  another  neighbouring  mountain  ;  they 
fought,  and  Taranaki  being  worsted,  set  off  one  night  going  down  the  Wanga- 
nui,  thus  forming  the  channel  of  the  river;  he  crossed  over  by  Wai  Totara,  leav- 
ing a  fragment  there,  and  then  fixed  himself  in  his  present  position.  The  spot 
where  he  formerly  stood  is  now  occupied  by  a  deep  lake,  which  still  bears  the 
name  of  Taranaki,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  kind  of  Pandemonium,  the  grand 
abode  of  all  the  New  Zealand  gods :  tliis  is  probably  a  fable,  founded  on  fact. 

The  Wanganui  River  is  evidently  a  volcanic  fissure,  flowing  in  many  places 
between  walls  of  several  hundred  feet  perpendicular  height,  and  cutting  through 
vallies  at  right  angles,  without  having  one  of  its  own. 

Q 


226  THE   GEOLOGY   OF   NEW   ZEALAND. 

is  a  deep  ravine,  the  charred  timber  is  seen  jutting  out  in  large 
masses.  This  deposit,  in  some  places,  extends  a  very  long  way ; 
and,  even  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wanganui,  the  low  lands  are 
deeply  covered  with  it,  as  well  as  with  solid  lumps  of  charred 
wood.  That  Tongariro  has  caused  the  formation  of  the  great 
Taupo  lake,  by  the  subsiding  of  the  land  to  supply  the  place 
before  occupied  by  so  much  ejected  matter,  appears  certain ; 
and  further,  that  this  occurred  at  different  intervals  is  also 
evident ;  for,  although  the  ancient  extent  of  the  lake  was 
nearly  double  what  it  is  at  present,  it  seems  to  have  become 
wider  and  deeper  than  formerly.  Many  trunks  of  trees  are  still 
visible  in  its  waters,  which  were  there  when  the  country  was 
first  peopled,  and  are  so  well  known  that  each  bears  the  name 
of  some  ancestor.  What  is  here  said  of  Taupo,  applies  to  all 
the  neighbouring  lakes  as  well ;  but  whilst  their  basins  were 
thus  formed  to  the  extent  of  the  matter  ejected,  it  is  evident 
that  the  throes  of  the  volcanoes  mainly  contributed  to  the 
elevation  of  the  country.  From  the  sea  to  the  base  of  Taupo 
there  is  a  regular  series  of  stages,  one  rising  higher  than  another, 
until  we  reach  the  central  plains  of  Tongariro,  thence  the  country 
gradually  slopes  to  the  north.  But  although  much  of  the  up- 
heavement  of  the  land  occurred  during  the  time  these  volcanoes 
were  in  eruption,  it  is  also  evident  that  even  yet  the  land  is  rising. 
This  must  now  solely  be  attributed  to  the  agency  of  earthquakes. 
The  southern  and  central  parts  of  the  island  appear  to  be  the 
principal  seat  of  their  action ;  and  though,  in  general,  the  shocks 
are  slight,  yet,  periodically,  every  five  or  six  years,  they  have 
beenmore  violent,  and  attended  with  more  serious  consequences. 
In  the  year  1843,  Wanganui  was  the  chief  centre  of  volcanic 
movement ;  most  of  the  chimneys  in  the  little  settlement  were 
thrown  down,  the  church  was  much  injured,  and  the  earth 
opened  in  parallel  fissures  ;  the  cliffs  had  every  appearance  of 
being  upheaved  a  foot  on  one  side  of  the  river,  whilst  the 
ground  on  the  other  side,  perhaps,  subsided  as  much.  The 
shocks  invariably  came  from  the  same  quarter,  W.N.W.* 

•  On  the  8th  July,  1843,  a  scries  of  shocks  were  felt  at  Wanganui.    The 
most  severe  one  took  place  about  5  p jn.,  and  lasted  several  minutes.    It  did 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF   NEW   ZEALAND.  227 

Much  sulphureous  gas  also  escaped,  which,  for  a  time,  affected 
the  health  of  the  place.  The  movement  seemed  chieflj  to 
follow  the  course  of  rivers,  whose  channels  may  be  regarded 
as  fissures  on  a  large  scale. 

The  next  alarming  one  took  place  about  two  o'clock  on 
Monday  morning,  October  16th,  1848,  when  a  series  of  heavy 
shocks  were  felt.    This  last  visitation  established  one  interest- 
ing fact,  that  the  disturbing  cause  is  not  stationary :  the  quarter 
from  which  it  proceeded  had  shifted  since  the  year  1843  from 
W.N.W.  to  W.S.W. :  it  afterwards,  however,  returned  to  its 
former  quarter.    The  shocks  appeared  to  commence  gradually, 
and  were  preceded  by  the  usual  loud  rumble ;  the  principal 
one  lasted  full  four  minutes.    The  movement  was  very  violent, 
and  although  the  motion  seemed  to  come  from  the  west,  the 
same  as  in  all  preceding  ones,  still  it  was  more  from  the  south 
than  usual,  and  there  was  also  a  lateral  vibration  noticed  in 
this  as  well.    The  shocks  lasted  near  an  hour.    At  Wanganui 
they  cracked  some  chimneys,  injured  the  baker's  oven,  and 
shook  down  a  few  bricks  and  some  plaster  in  the  church ;  but, 
with  those  exceptions,  they  did  very  little  injury  there.    This 
earthquake  was  followed  by  a  disagreeable  smell,  and  head- 
considerable  damage  to  the  little  settlement,  most  of  the  brick  chimneys  in 
it  were  thrown  down ;  part  of  the  gable  end  of  the  church  at  Putiki,  which  is 
built  of  brick,  fell,  the  bricks  falling  into  the  pulpit,  and  smashing  its  floor, 
this  occurred  during  the  time  of  evening  prayer.    Providentially,  I  was  from 
home,  or,  in  all  probability,  the  consequences  would  have  been  very  serious. 
So  great  was  the  shock,  that  the  earth  opened  in  fissures,  the  chief  one  being 
in  the  bed  of  the  river,  which  was  deepened  several  fathoms.    These  fissures 
were  parallel  to  each  other :  they  were  of  considerable  length,  and  diminished 
in  breadth  as  they  receded  from  the  river.    One  in  the  water,  which  was  very 
visible  when  the  tide  was  out,  was  about  two  feet  wide,  and  the  last  one  which 
I  noticed  was  five  inches  across ;  they  were  several  hundred  feet  long.    The 
"  Columbine,''*  a  vessel  of  70  tons,  was  laid  down  on  a  bank  opposite  the  town, 
to  have  her  keel  repaired.     The  bank  on  which  she  laid  dry  sunk,  and  left 
five  feet  of  water  in  its  place.    Large  portions  of  the  cliffs  were  thrown  down  ; 
and,  at  Rangitikei,  a  family  residing  under  a  cliff  was  overwhelmed  with  the 
house  by  a  land-slip.     The  river  was  remarkably  agitated  with  short  waves, 
such  as  are  seen  where  two  currents  meet,  and  the  water  overflowed  the  banks 
in  several  places.     In  my  house,  the  pendulum  of  the  time*piece  was  shaken 
out  of  its  socket.      This  great  shock  was  followed  by  many  smaller  ones, 
and  during  the  succeeding  month,  there  were,  at  least,  fifty  of  them. 

Q   2 


228  THE   GEOLOGY   OF   NEW   ZEALAND. 

aches  were  quite  general.  After  these  shocks  large  quan- 
tities of  bitumen  or  asphaltum  were  washed  up  on  the  coast ; 
some  pieces  were  of  considerable  weight.  At  Ohau^  much 
gas  was  ejected  from  circular  openings.  But  the  grand 
centre  of  action  was  at  Wellington,  where  most  of  the  houses 
were  more  or  less  injured ;  indeed,  there  was  scarcely  a  brick 
building  left  standing,  or  a  single  chimney  which  was  not 
thrown  down.  Several  fissures  were  formed,  and  the  land  was 
raised  so  much  that  the  small  craft  which  were  accustomed  to 
anchor  close  in  shore,  were  obliged  to  change  their  ground.* 
On  the  23rd  of  January  1855,  the  south-western  part  of  New 

*  Despatch  of  Lieutcnant-Goyemor  Eyre,  relative  to  the  Earthquake  at 

WeUington. 

Oovemment  House,  WeUington,  l(Hh  October,  1848. 

Sib, — It  is  my  most  painful  duty  to  inform  your  Excellency  that  a  terrible 
calamity  has  overtaken  this  province :  an  earthquake  has  occurred,  and  the 
town  of  Wellington  is  in  ruins. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday  the  16th  of  October,  about  twenty  minutes  to 
two  a.m.,  the  first  shock  occurred,  and  was  sufficiently  strong  to  throw  down 
or  injure  most  of  the  chimneys  in  the  town,  and  to  crack  the  walls  of  very  many 
of  the  brick  buildings. 

Considerable  loss  of  property  was  sustuned  by  breakages  in  the  houses,  and 
a  good  deal  of  alarm  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants.  During  the 
whole  of  Monday  shocks  and  tremblings  of  the  earth  were  from  time  to  time 
experienced,  but  of  a  slighter  character  than  the  first. 

On  Tuesday,  the  17th  October,  about  four  o'clock  a.m.,  another  rather 
smart  shock  was  felt,  and  again  at  eight  a.m.  Lighter  ones  continued  at 
intervals  during  the  day,  until  twenty  minutes  to  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  a  sudden  and  much  more  violent  shock  took  place ;  by  this,  chimneys 
remaining  up  were,  for  the  most  part,  cast  down.  The  native  hospital,  the 
gaol,  many  of  the  large  brick  stores,  and  the  high  brick  walls,  were  thrown 
down :  immense  destruction  of  property  took  place,  and,  I  regret  to  add,  a 
melancholy  loss  of  life. 

Barrack-Sergeant  Lovell  and  two  of  his  children  were  thrown  down  and 
buried  by  falling  ruins.  Upon  being  extricated,  one  of  the  children  was  found 
dead,  and  the  other  so  seriously  injured,  that  it  died  a  few  hours  afterwards. 
The  Sergeant  himself  was  much  hurt,  and  now  lies  in  a  precarious  state. — 
(Since  dead.) 

During  the  remainder  of  Tuesday  and  the  succeeding  night,  slight  shocks 
only  were  felt ;  but  about  five  a.m.,  on  Wednesday  morning,  a  stronger  one 
occurred,  and  another  about  eight  a.m.  Minor  shocks  continued  at  intervals 
during  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  evening,  until  the  morning  of  Thursday 
the  19th,  at  ten  minutes  past  five  a.m.,  when  u  most  violent  and  awful  shock 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.  229 

Zealand  was  again  visited  with  the  most  severe  earthquakes 
which  have  occurred  since  it  has  been  known  to  us.  The  native 
church  at  Wanganui  was  thrown  down,  as  well  as  the  chimnejs 

took  place ;  every  building  was  rocked  to  and  fro  in  a  fearful  manner,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  the  wooden  dwellings,  most  of  the  houses  and  stores 
were  seriously  shattered  or  fell  in.  The  whole  population  were  in  the  utmost 
consternation  and  alarm,  and  the  destruction  of  property  was  immense ;  but 
most  proyidentially,  up  to  the  present  time,  no  further  loss  of  life  has  ensued. 

Numbers  of  persons  are,  however,  ruined ;  many  left  houseless  and  home- 
less, excepting  such  temporary  shelter  as  can  be  afforded  by  the  new  church, 
Te  Aro,  by  Government  House  (where  the  hospital  patients  and  some  others 
are  taken  in),  and  by  the  wooden  buildings  of  their  friends. 

Many  persons  are  afraid  of  remaining  in  any  of  the  houses  at  night,  and 
retire  to  the  bush,  among  the  hills,  in  the  hope  of  being  more  secure,  notwith- 
standing the  wild  and  inclement  weather  by  which  the  earthquake  has  been 
accompanied. 

A  blow  has  been  struck  at  the  prosperity,  almost  at  the  very  existence,  of 
the  settlement,  from  which  it  will  not  readily  recover.  Terror  and  dismay 
reign  everywhere :  for  the  last  four  days  no  business  of  any  kind  has  been  trans- 
acted. The  energies  of  all  seemed  paralysed,  and  during  that  period  no  one 
has  been  able  to  feel  for  a  moment  that  even  life  itself  b  secure. 

As  I  now  write,  too,  (eleven  p.m.,  19th  October,)  incessant  and  alarming 
tremblings  of  the  earth  are  experienced ;  what  may  be  the  eventual  result,  or 
when  this  dreadful  state  of  suspense  and  anxiety  may  be  terminated,  God  alone 
can  tell ;  but  everyone  seems  to  feel  a  presentiment  that  it  will  end  in  some 
more  fearful  catastrophe  than  any  which  has  yet  taken  place. 

The  sad  ravages  which  have  already  occurred,  and  the  terror  which  so 
frightful  a  visitation  naturally  produces  in  most  men's  minds,  will,  I  apprehend, 
drive  from  the  colony  all  who  can  find  means  to  get  away.  The  few  ships 
now  in  port,  waiting  for  moderate  weather  to  sail,  are  crowded  to  excess  with 
colonists  abandoning  the  country,*  and  numbers  are  unable  to  obtain  passages. 

Under  this  awful  visitation,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  at  once  to  summon  my 
Executive  Council,  and,  with  their  approval,  to  proclaim  a  day  of  public  and 
solemn  fast,  prayer,  and  humiliation,  in  order  that  supplication  may  be  offered 
up  to  Almighty  God  to  avert  the  recurrence  of  any  similar  vbitation,  and 
Friday,  the  20th  of  October,  was  appointed  for  this  purpose. 

I  will  not  fail  to  communicate  to  your  Excellency  such  further  information 
and  reports  as  it  may  be  in  my  power  from  time  to  time  to  render. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be.  Sir, 

Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  humble  Servant, 
(Signed)  E.  Eyre. 

His  Excellency  the  Govemor-in^Chief, 

*  A  large  vessel  was  flUed  with  these  poor  timid  creatares,  who,  when  thej  were  in  fancied 
security  on  board,  regained  saffldcnt  courage  to  get  up  a  dance  to  the  sound  of  the  violin, 

kindly  expressing  their  wish,  that  now  they  were  out  of  the  place,  it  might  go  to  the ;  the 

impious  wish  was  scarcely  expressed  before  the  ship  missed  stays,  drifted  on  the  rocks,  and  was 
lost,  and  these  nerveless  runaways  were  glad  to  return  to  their  abandoned  homca 


230  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  the  Missiou-house.  In  various  parts  the  ground  opened, 
so  that  some  places  appeared  as  though  they  had  been  ploughed 
up  in  furrows.  Large  quantities  of  gas  and  water  were  ejected 
from  many  circular  apertures,  Jiround  which  mounds,  several 
yards  high,  were  formed;  the  ground  was  so  intersected 
with  deep  ravines  as  actually  to  stop  all  travelling  for  a  time. 
At  Wellington,  the  harbour  is  stated  to  have  been  raised  full 
four  feet  and  a  half,  and  similar  changes  to  have  taken  place 
in  every  part  of  the  district.* 

♦  Extracts  from  The  New  Zealand  Spectator,  of  February  7tU,  1865. 

Wanoanui. — The  accounts  received  from  Wanganui  bj  the  Overland  mail 
on  Saturday,  describe  the  earthquake  to  have  been  as  severe  as  at  Welling^n. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  private  letter : — 

"  The  Rosebud  left  last  Sunday  forenoon,  with  a  N.E.  wind,  and  got  well 
away.  La^t  night  (Tuesday),  about  nine  o'clock,  we  had  as  heavy  a  shock  of 
an  earthquake  as  ever  I  have  felt,  and  of  longer  duration  in  respect  to  its 
steady  violence.  It  was  very  dark,  and  raining  at  the  time.  I  should  think 
it  lasted  about  two  minutes,  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  stand  without  holding 
by  something  while  it  lasted.  The  mischief  it  did  was  considerable.  It  threw 
down  nearly  all  the  chimneys.  *  *  *  The  bed  of  the  river  at  low  water 
this  morning  looked  like  an  ill-ploughed  field,  although  a  high  tide  had  inter^ 
▼ened,  which  must  have  helped  to  fill  up  the  fissures  made,  and  it  had  sunk  in 
many  places  and  rose  in  others,  presenting  a  very  ugly  appearance.  Taylor 
and  Watt's  wharf  is  nearly  a  wreck,  warped  and  bent  up  and  down  all  along, 
and  the  extreme  end  sunk  obliquely.  *  *  *  There  has  been  no  long  interval 
since  the  first  shock,  further  ones  occurring  of  more  or  less  violence,  for  now 
near  24  hours.  The  postman  brings  word  it  was  very  bad  as  far  as  Manawatu. 
We  had  no  personal  accidents." 

Tb  Kopi. — We  understand  that  at  Te  Ropi,  a  small  boat  harbour  at  the  Wai- 
rarapa,  a  very  heavy  wave  swept  the  beach,  washing  away  the  sheds,  buildings, 
the  bales  of  wool  that  were  lying  there  to  be  taken  to  Welling^n,  and  all  that 
was  on  the  beach.  The  Muka  Muka  rocks,  which  were  the  worst  part  of  the 
coast  road  to  Wairarapa,  have  now  become  the  best  by  the  alteration  caused 
by  the  earthquake,  the  beach  now  extending  a  considerable  distance  beyond 
them  above  the  level  of  high  water. 

The  earthquake  seems  to  have  been  generally  felt  about  the  same  time 
throughout  New  Zealand,  at  least  information  to  that  effect  has  been  received 
from  every  province,  except  Otago,  from  which  there  has  been  no  arrival ; 
and  the  Taranaki  Herald  states  that  the  Josephine  Willis,  which  had  arrived 
there,  felt  the  shock  about  nine  o'clock  p.m.,  on  the  evening  of  tho  23rd,  at  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  coast  of  New  Zealand.  From 
measurements  which  have  since  been  made,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  the 
land  has  been  raised  to  a  height  of  from  three  feet  six  inches  to  four  feet.  All 
the  shell  fish  attached  to  the  rocks,  that  live  below  low  water  mark,  in  conse- 


THE  GEOLOGY   OF   NEW   ZEAI.AND.  231 

In  fact,  the  raising  of  sea- beaches  is  a  very  common  occur- 
rence, and  in  every  part  of  the  island  numerous  instances  are 
to  be  seen,  several  of  which  have  occurred  during  my  residence, 

quence  of  the  elevation  of  the  land,  are  dead,  and  the  number  is  considerable 
enough  to  cause  a  strong  smell  to  be  perceived  by  those  walking  round  the 
east  side  of  the  harbour  towards  Evans'  Bay.  The  Bally  Rock,  off  Point 
Jemingham,  which  was  formerly  eighteen  inches  below  low  water  (spring 
tides)  is  now  about  two  feet  above  low  water.  About  ten  minutes  after  the 
first  great  shock,  a  great  wave  entered  the  harbour,  which  was  estimated  to 
to  have  been  above  twelve  feet  in  vertical  height ;  from  the  narrow  entrance 
of  the  harbour  compared  to  its  area  very  little  damage  was  done  by  it,  but 
in  the  open  and  exposed  boat  harbour  at  Te  Kopi,  all  the  buildings,  &c.,  on 
the  beach,  were  swept  away  by  a  similar  wave.  Two  coasters,  one  from  the 
Kaikoras,  the  other  from  Point  (Jnderwood,  on  their  approaching  the  har- 
bour the  next  morning  at  daylight,  passed  through  an  immense  quantity  of 
dead  fish,  principally  ling,  and  quantities  of  dead  fish  were  found  on  the  beach, 
and  at  Bumham  water. 

In  the  divic^g  range  of  hills  between  the  Wairarapa  and  Wellington,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  harbour,  there  have  been  several  very  heavy  landslips 
from  their  summits,  which  are  plainly  visible  from  Wellington.  The  earth- 
quake appears  to  have  exerted  great  force  on  this  range. 

To  the  Editor  of  The  New  Zealand  Spectator. 

Wellington,  January  29, 1855. 

Sib, — Left  Wellington  on  Wednesday,  at  ten  o*clock,  the  morning  after  the 
shock;  found  several  landslips  on  the  Petoni  Road,  only  one  of  any  size,  and 
that  at  present  but  a  slight  obstacle  to  the  communication  into  the  Hutt,  a  road 
being  now  rapidly  pushed  round  its  base ;  swing  bridge  over  the  river  gone, 
broken,  and  ground  burst  up  at  each  abutment,  lower  end  fallen  into  the  water, 
the  whole  aslant  up  stream:  visible  effects  of  the  shock  on  the  roads  and 
country  in  general ;  presented  stronger  manifestations  on  entering  the  valley : 
as  a  rule,  chimneys  are  down  along  the  whole  line;  mills  reported  as  damaged, 
houses  damaged  internally  rather  than  externally :  road,  for  seven  miles,  that 
is,  up  to  three  miles  the  other  side  of  Buck's  Hotel,  considerably  injured ; 
many  of  the  smaller  bridges  gone  at  the  lower  gorges ;  several  considerable 
land-slips  occur,  impassable  for  carts ;  from  thb  point,  for  thirteen  miles,  as 
far  as  Hodder's,  the  roads  are  all  right,  but  three  miles  beyond,  on  the  ascent 
up  the  Rimutaka  gorges,  for  upwards  of  seven  miles,  the  land-slips  and  crevices 
are  both  numerous,  dangerous,  and  almost  impassable,  even  on  foot.  Barri- 
cades of  the  largest  trees,  stumps,  and  rocks,  avalanches  of  earth,  underwood, 
decayed  trees,  and  boulders,  bar  your  progress,  and  conceal  your  line  of  road, 
while  loose  logs  and  stones  hang  in  threatening  positions  far  above  your  head, 
so  that  a  steady  hand  and  cool  head  are  necessary  to  carry  you  safely  over  the 
precipices  that  sweep  down  below  you  to  the  bottom  of  tlie  valley :  no  sort  of 
conveyance  can  pass ;  all  horses  are  left  at  Hodder's  Hotel,  on  this  side  the 


232  THE   GE0IXX3Y   OF   NEW   ZEALAND. 

But  although  there  is  abundant  proof  of  upheavement  still 
going  on  in  the  Northern  Island,  it  is  trifling  when  compared 
with   that  of  the  Middle    Island.      The   Nelson    paper   of 

gorges,  and  you  proceed  on  foot  to  Burling's,  at  the  entrance  of  the  valley : 
all  parties  should  avoid  the  Blue  Rock,  and  diverge  to  the  left  down  the  stream. 
On  entering  the  district,  and  proceeding  to  Nick's  on  the  river,  the  shock 
appears  to  have  been  generally  felt  as  seriously  as  with  yourselves,  and  the 
only  casualties  I  heard  of  were  four  natives  reported  dead  in  the  lower  valley. 
The  shocks  appear  to  have  occurred  simultaneously  throughout  the  whole  line 
of  country,  and  the  depression  of  the  people's  minds  to  be  both  considerable 
and  general.  I  am.  Sib,  your  obedient  Servant, 

R.  E.  WiLLRAT. 

Extract  from  Commander  Drury*8  Remark  Book. 

Cook's  Straits,  January  25, 1855. 

The  Anniversary  of  the  Wellington  Settlement  was  most  auspiciously 
celebrated — a  brighter  or  calmer  day  never  beamed  on  the  harbour.  The 
boat  races,  and  every  description  of  sports  on  shore,  went  off  with  much  good 
humour  and  Sclat,  and  the  only  drawback  was  want  of  wind  for  the  sailing 
boats. 

In  the  evening,  a  light  N.W.  wind  sprang  up,  which  increased  gradually 
during  the  night ;  and  at  eight,  on  the  morning  of  the  23rd,  it  blew  violently. 
The  sports,  however,  continued,  and  the  race-course  drew  nearly  (he  whole 
population  of  Wellington :  but  a  drenching  rain  at  noon  checked  the  further 
progress  of  joviality,  which  was  to  be  repeated  on  the  morrow. 

At  eleven  minutes  past  nine  o'clock,  p.m.,  the  gale  still  blowing  strong,  wc 
felt  suddenly  an  uncommon  and  disagreeable  grinding,  as  if  the  ship  was 
grating  over  a  rough  bottom.  It  continued  with  severity  for  more  than  a 
minute;  the  ship  slewed  broadside  to  the  wind;  we  were  then  in  six  fathoms, 
80  there  was  little  doubt  but  that  it  was  an  earthquake.  Lights  were  seen 
running  to  and  fro  in  all  parts  of  the  town,  and  evidences  of  consternation 
combined  with  a  loud  crash. 

Lieutenant  Jones  and  myself  immediately  landed.  We  found  the  tide 
alternately  ebbing  and  flowing. 

The  first  scene  before  us  on  landing  was  the  Government  Offices,  entirely 
destroyed,  the  upper  story  (the  falling  of  which  had  caused  the  crash  we 
heard),  lying  on  the  ground ;  the  staircase,  the  Council  Chamber,  the  papers 
and  documents  in  heterogeneous  confusion;  an  adjoining  chemist's  shop, 
whoso  simples  and  compounds  admixing,  had  a  decided  bias  to  peppermint ; 
while  the  doorway  of  the  public-house  was  a  confusion  of  broken  bottles. 
The  sentinel  in  charge  of  the  Government  building,  who  had  just  been  thrown 
backwards  and  forwards,  was  now  walking  in  front  of  the  wreck,  with  perfect 
tang  fr Old,  no  doubt  crying  "All's  well"  to  the  hour. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  narrate  more  than  the  general  effects  and  disasters 
of  this  severe  shock ;  and  firstly,  we  have  to  be  thankful  to  God,  that  amidst 
the  general  wreck  of  property,  but  one  life  has  been  sacrificed,  and  not  more 
than  four  others  seriously  wounded,  up  to  the  time  of  our  departure.    This 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.  233 

September,  1847,  states,  that  the  hull  of  a  vessel  was  lately 
discovered  on  the  western  coast,  lying  two  hundred  yards  from 
high  water  mark,  with  a  small  tree  growing  through  its  bottom. 

would  appear  astonishing  to  a  person  viewing  the  wreck  of  the  houses,  the 
mass  of  brick-work  from  the  falling  of  the  chimneys,  the  dislodgment  of 
furniture,  the  fissures  in  the  earth,  the  extraordinary  rise  of  tide,  the  entire 
destruction  of  some  tenements,  the  collapse  of  others,  the  universal  sacrifice 
of  property,  and  the  natural  terror  and  despair  among  the  inhabitants,  all 
tending  to  far  greater  personal  disaster  than  fortunately  I  have  to  narrate. 
And  here  I  would  especially  dwell  upon  the  benefit  of  the  warning  of  1848  to 
the  inhabitants,  which,  under  Divine  Providence,  by  causing  them  to  occupy 
wooden  houses,  has  been  the  salvation  of  many  lives ;  and  the  hour,  too,  was 
favorable  to  the  escape  of  adults,  who  seixed  the  children  from  beneath  the 
tottering  chimneys,  themselves  not  having  generally  retired  to  bed. 

Few,  if  any,  since  1848,  have  been  rash  enough  to  build  a  brick  house:  the 
chimneys  had  generally  been  secured  as  well  as  possible  by  iron  braces,  &c. 
The  most  substantial  two-storied  house — Baron  Alsdorf's  hotel — of  lath  and 
plaster,  buried  its  owner  in  the  partial  ruins.  Government  House,  had  it  been 
occupied,  must  have  destroyed  its  inmates,  for  every  room  was  a  pile  of  brick- 
work, the  chandeliers,  &c.,  utterly  destroyed.  The  guard  had  a  wonderful 
escape  from  the  Guard-room,  and  the  gun  at  the  flagstaff  turned  over. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  entire  destruction  of  the  Council  Chamber, 
the  upper  story  being  completely  severed  from  the  lower ;  the  Treasury  strong 
box,  and  the  papers  and  documents  apparently  in  irretrievable  confusion. 

The  elegant  and  substantial  new  building,  the  Union  Bank,  is,  in  its  front, 
a  perfect  ruin ;  and  I  hear  the  damage  within  is  not  much  less.  Opposite  this 
building,  on  the  road,  a  considerable  opening  emitted  slimy  mud,  and  the  main 
street  was  overflowed  by  inundation.  The  most  substantially-built  wooden 
houses  of  one  story,  with  the  exception  of  the  chimneys,  are  mainly  standing. 
Those  of  less  substantial  calibre  (and  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  are  many),  are 
in  a  state  of  collapse.  There  is  an  universal  destruction  of  crockery,  bottles, 
&c.,  and  a  pitiful  loss  of  valuable  ornaments,  clocks,  &c.  Several  stores  are 
unapproachable,  until  neighbouring  dangers  are  removed. 

The  principal  shock  occurred  at  9h.  11m.  p.m.,  and  it  was  far  the  most 
severe.  During  the  night  scarcely  half  an  hour  elapsed  without  a  lesser  shock, 
more  or  less  violent,  accompanied  by  a  deep  hollow  sound ;  but  all  these  sub- 
sequent ones  were  of  much  shorter  duration ;  and  the  first  having  levelled 
every  portion  of  brickwork,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  there  was  less  to 
fear ;  but  the  inhabitants  generally  moved  to  the  open  ground,  and  the  follow- 
ing day  the  streets  and  gardens  were  the  scene  of  an  involuntary  pic-nic. 

From  what  we  noticed,  it  appeared  that  the  elemental  wave  proceeded  from 
about  W.N.W.  to  E.S.E.,  that  its  actual  effect  upon  terra  firma  was  slight, 
and  that  the  fissures  were  generally  where  the  road  was  made,  although  the 
mud  emitted  from  the  crack  at  Te  Aro  must  be  considered  as  subterraneous 
deposit,  from  what  depth  not  easily  decided. 

From  close  observations  on  the  barometer,  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 


234  THE   OB0IX)GY   OF   NEW    ZEALAND. 

The  vessel  was  supposed  to  be  the  Active,  which  was  lost  in 
1814.  How  great  an  alteration  must  that  locality  have  under- 
gone since  it  was  stranded  there,  when  in  a  period  of  thirty- 

the  effect  before  or  after  the  princi|>al  shock  was  evident  (it  ranged  from 
29*30  to  30*00),  nor  that  the  cakn  preceding,  or  the  gale  attending,  the  earth- 
quake, had  any  connexion  with  the  subterraneous  convulsions.*  We  witnessed, 
during  the  48  hours  following,  every  variety  of  wind  and  weather,  yet  with 
repeated  shocks ;  but  although  I  would  disconnect  the  atmospheric  influence 
with  the  earthquakes,  we  had  every  reason  to  believe  the  latter  had  immediate 
local  influence  on  the  atmosphere,  producing  violent  gusts  after  the  shock. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  as  action,  or  firing,  will  produce  a  local  calm  by  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  atmosphere,  the  phenomenon  here  may  be  more  easily  ac- 
counted for.  But  a  more  interesting  and  extraordinary  phenomenon  occurred 
(I  say  extraordinary  because  no  person  appears  to  have  observed  it  in  the 
earthquake  of  1848) ;  for  eight  hours  subsequent  to  the  first  and  great  shock, 
the  tide  approached  and  receded  from  the  shore  every  twenty  minutes,  rising 
from  eight  to  ten  feet,  and  receding  four  feet  lower  than  at  spring  tides.  One 
ship,  I  heard,  was  aground  at  her  anchorage  four  times.  The  ordinary  tide 
seemed  quite  at  a  discount,  for  the  following  day  (24th)  it  scarcely  rose  at  all. 

The  general  effects  of  the  earthquake  were  evidently  felt  more  upon  the 
lower  parts  of  the  town ;  at  the  Hutt  most  severely.  The  bridge  there  was 
destroyed,  and  the  houses  much  damaged.  I  am  also  informed  the  Porirua 
road  is  sunk  in  places. 

Recurring  to  our  landing  after  the  first  shock.  Lieutenant  Jones  and  myself 
went  into  several  houses.  The  panic  was  certainly  great,  and  many  accepted 
the  offer  to  go  on  board,  the  houses  we  were  in  swinging  to  and  fro,  and  the 
ground  in  a  constant  tremulous  motion.  It  was  sufficient  to  unnerve  the 
stoutest  hearts ;  but  after  a  delay  of  three  or  four  hours  (in  which  we  were 
visiting  other  parts  of  the  town),  on  returning  to  the  parties  who  had  accepted 
an  asylum  on  board,  we  found  one  and  all  had  determined  to  abide  on  shore, 
indeed  they  were  getting  accustomed  to  it.  The  wives  would  not  desert  the 
husbands,  and  the  husbands  would  not  desert  the  town. 

We  returned  to  the  ship  at  two  ajn.,  the  tide  having  at  that  time  receded 
about  four  feet  lower  than  at  ordinary  spring  tide. 

On  the  24th  the  shock  continued ;  but  at  greater  intervals  as  the  day  ad- 
vanced ;  but  the  tremulous  motion  was  continuous. 

The  scene  on  the  streets  was  novel ;  some  people  standing  at  their  thres- 
holds, groups  upon  mats,  clear  of  the  houses,  or  in  tents  in  their  gardens. 
Those  who  had  suffered  less  than  their  neighbours  were  assiduous  in  rendering 
assistance.  What  a  different  scene  would  have  occurred  in  the  fatherland  I  With 

*  With  due  deference  to  Captain  I>mi7,  I  am  inclined  to  attribute  the  chief  cause  of  earth- 
quakes to  alteration  In  barometrical  pressure  During  many  years*  observation,  I  have  invariably 
remarlced,  that  they  have  been  either  preceded  or  followed  by  severe  gales  or  storms ;  and  it 
appears  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  when  the  internal  pressure  is  greater  than  the  external,  the 
earth's  crust  will  be  subject  to  these  convulsions,  in  proportion  to  the  greater  or  less  solidity  of 
it*  strata. 


.  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.  235 

three  years  the  ocean  had  retired  to  a  distance  of  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  shore ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  part  of  the 
coast  has  risen  to  such  an  extent  as  to  remove  the  hull  of 
the  vessel  so  far  beyond  high  water  mark.  There  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  this  upheavement  of  the  coast  is  not 
confined  to  one  spot,  but  has  extended  the  entire  length  of 
the  island. 

From  the  evidence  of  a  person  who  was  formerly  engaged 
in  sealing  at  Dusky  Bay,  as  far  back  as  the  year  1823,  it 
appears  that  from  1826  to  1827  there  vras  an  almost  constant 
succession  of  earthquakes,  some  of  which  were  sufficiently 
violent  to  throw  men  down.  At  times,  he  and  his  party,  who 
then  resided  on  a  small  island,  were  so  alarmed  lest  it  should 
be  submerged,  that  they  put  out  to  sea :  there,  however,  they 
found  no  safety,  for  such  was  the  flux  and  reflux  of  the  ocean, 
that  they  were  in  the  greatest  danger  of  being  swamped,  and 
were  thankful  to  get  on  shore  again.  The  sealers  were 
accustomed  to  visit  a  small  cove  called  the  jail,  which  was  a 
most  suitable  place  for  anchorage,  being  well  sheltered  with 
lofty  clifis  on  every  side ;  and  having  deep  water  in  it  close  to 
the  shore,  so  that  they  could  step  out  on  the  rocks  from  their 
boats.  It  is  situated  about  eighty  miles  to  the  north  of  Dusky 
Bay.     After   the   earthquakes   the   locality  was  completely 

shops  exposed,  and  every  temptation  to  plunder,  there  seemed  to  be  neither 
fear  nor  thought  of  robbery,  but  a  generous  and  manly  feeling  to  lessen  each 
other's  burdens  pervaded  all  classes,  from  the  Superintendent  to  the  lowest 
mechanic,  from  the  Colonel  to  every  soldier  of  the  65th  Regiment ;  nor  can  I 
forget  to  mention  the  ready  asylum  afforded  by  the  merchant  vessels  in  the 
harbour  to  the  houseless  and  more  nervous  inhabitants. 

On  the  25th,  at  Oh.  55m.  a.m.,  there  was  a  very  sharp  but  comparatively 
short  shock. 

Having  ascertained  we  could  be  of  no  further  assistance,  we  weighed  for 
Nelson,  and  in  crossing  Cook's  Straits  we  felt  one  shock  in  26  fathoms,  at 
noon,  off  Sinclair  Head  (exactly  the  same  feeling  as  when  at  anchor),  and  a 
slighter  shock  in  80  fathoms,  off  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound. 

In  these  events  there  is  much  to  be  thankful  for  in  the  absence  of  fire ;  had 
it  been  urinter,  the  universal  falling  in  of  chimneys  would  have  assuredly  fired 
the  wooden  houses :  had  the  first  shock  been  an  hour  later,  many  lives  would 
probably  have  been  lost,  as  the  populace  would  have  been  in  bed.  Much  fear 
is  entertained  for  the  soldiers  at  Wanganui  barracks.  I  trust  we  shall  find 
that  Nelson  has  suffered  as  lightly  as  on  former  occasions. 


236  THE  GEOLOGY  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

altered ;  the  sea  had  so  entirely  retired  from  the  cove,  that  it 
was  dry  land.  Beyond  Cascade  Point  the  whole  coast  pre- 
sented a  most  shattered  appearance,  so  much  so  that  its  former 
state  could  scarcely  be  recognized.  Large  masses  of  the 
mountains  had  fallen,  and  in  many  places  the  trees  might  be 
seen  under  the  water. 

From  these  circumstances,  it  is  evident  that  the  Middle 
Island  is  rapidly  rising,  and  of  this  fact  there  arc  other  proofs 
to  be  adduced.  The  climate  has  undergone  a  great  change, 
which  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  increased  elevation 
of  the  land.  Coal  measures  appear  at  Massacre  Bay  and 
Molyneux  River,  intermingled  with  abundance  of  Kauri 
resin.  This  noble  pine  is  not  now  found  growing  within  ten 
degrees  of  latitude  north  of  Molyneux  River.  In  no  single 
spot  within  that  wide  range  is  a  Kauri  tree  to  be  met  with. 
Hence  we  conclude  that  the  climate  has  considerably 
altered,  since  that  carboniferous  deposit  was  made ;  but  it 
is  not  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  probably  remote  period 
of  its  formation.  The  Kauri  resin  is  still  found  on  the  surface 
of  the  land,  with  every  appearance  of  its  having  had  quite 
as  recent  an  origin  as  that  picked  up  in  the  north.  It  is  most 
probable,  therefore,  that  the  tree  has  grown  in  these  latitudes 
at  a  comparatively  recent  period.  This  beautiful  pine  does 
not  appear  to  require  heat,  so  much  as  shelter  and  humidity. 
If,  then,  as  we  suppose^  the  land  was  formerly  low  in  that 
latitude,  the  climate  would  necessarily  be  humid  and  mild,  the 
cold  being  tempered  by  the  sea,  and  not  increased  by  the 
propinquity  of  snowy  mountains ;  thus  the  Kauri  might  have 
flourished  there,  as  well  as  other  trees  which  now  belong  to 
a  warmer  climate.* 

*  Extract  of  Lieut-Governor  Eyre's  letter,  describing  his  ascent  of  the  Kai 
Koura,  a  mountain  of  tho  Middle  Island,  9,114  feet  high: — 

Government  House,  26th  Nov.  1849. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  write  a  line  to  inform  you,  that  I  have  returned  from  the 
Middle  Island,  after  only  a  fortnight's  absence,  in  consequence  of  the  melan- 
choly loss  of  one  of  my  party  (a  native),  who,  slipping  on  a  snow  slide  at  the 
hill  Tapuaenuko,  fell  about  1500  feet,  and  was  killed.  Two  others  also  of  the 
party  had  very  providential  escapes  more  than  once,  viz.,  myself  and  another 


THE   GEOLOGY   OF    NEW   ZEALAND.  237 

Another  proof  to  be  adduced  in  favour  of  this  hypothesis 
is  the  Moa  (Dinomis),  the  gigantic  ostrich  of  these  islands. 
The  struthious  race  of  birds  exclusively  belongs  to  a  mild 
climate;  a  warmer  one  than  that  where  the  remains  of  the 
Moa  are  now  found.  Formerly,  not  only  were  these  birds 
numerous  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  North  Island,  but  in 
every  part  of  the  Middle  Island  as  well.  The  remains  of  the 
gigantic  Moa  are  seldom  found  without  their  being  inter- 
mingled with  those  of  several  different  sized  species  of  the 
same  bird.  Hence  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  climate  was 
once  suitable  for  them,  since  they  abounded,  and  at  a  com- 

of  the  natives.  We  got  up  the  hill  after  a  dangerous  and  most  laborious  ascent 
of  thirteen  hoursyfrom  the  nearest  point  to  which  we  could  get  the  camp,  but  it 
was  paM  $ev9n  in  the  evening y  and  although  one-quarter  of  an  hour  would  hare 
placed  me  on  the  summit  of  the  highest  point,  I  could  not  spare  that  brief 
period,  and  was  obliged  to  descend,  without  going  up  the  last  slight  rise 
(probably  50  feet  in  elevation  and  300  yards  in  distance),  which  would  have 
given  me  a  view  over  everything,  I  consequently  did  not  see  the  southern,  but 
had  a  magnificent  view  in  every  other  direction.  We  had  to  halt  on  the  hill, 
about  700  feet  below  the  summit,  without  fire,  and  in  the  midst  of  snow,  but 
the  weather  fortunately  was  fine,  and  the  cold  less  intense  than  I  anticipated. 
We  did  not  get  back  to  camp  until  about  six  in  the  evening  of  the  following 
day.  The  sad  event  of  losing  one  of  the  party,  added  to  other  considerations, 
made  me  give  up  the  idea  of  trying  to  cross  to  Port  Cooper,  and  I  at  once 
returned  to  Wellington ;  but  I  believe  there  is  no  impediment  in  the  way  of 
such  a  journey ;  and  I  feel  sure  that  if  I  had  gone  on,  ten  days  from  where  I 
turned,  would  have  brought  me  to  Port  Cooper.  Little  vegetation  on  the  hill, 
but  mosses  and  lichens,  and  some  coarse  grasses,  besides  prickly  plants,  of 
which  the  **Tarafnea  "  is  the  chief;  hut  the  singular  part  was,  that  on  so  steep 
and  high  a  hiU,  where  now  nothing  but  mosses  and  lichens  grow,  were  the 
charred  remains  of  large  totara  trees,  evidently  shewing  that  the  ground  once 
has  been  low  and  has  been  covered  with  forest,  and  that  it  has  been  pushed 
up  within  a  comparatively  recent  geological  period.  There  waa  g^ey  granite 
on  the  highest  ridge. 

/  will  NBVBB  willingly  try  to  ascend  any  snowy  mountain  again. 

Believe  me  in  haste  yours  very  truly. 

Rev.  R.  Tatlob.  E.  Etbe. 

Mr.  Clifford,  jun.,  stated  the  same  to  me,  and  further,  that  the  totara  is  not 
now  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain,  although  there,  largo 
trunks  of  totara  trees,  generally  charred,  are  found  beyond  the  region  of 
grass,  where  nothing  but  moss  and  lichens  grow.  This  gentleman  stated  that 
these  remarkable  remains  of  trees  are  generally  laid  in  lines,  and  gave  him  the 
idea  of  drift  timber,  laying  in  such  large  quantities  on  the  precipitous  sides  of 
the  mountain. 


238  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

para tively  recent  period  too,  for  their  bones  are  found  in  only 
a  partially  fossilized  state.  To  what  then  can  we  ascribe  their 
extinction,  but  to  a  change  of  climate  ?  Man  has  nothing  to 
do  with  their  destruction.*\°|rhat  they  existed  at  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  is  proved  by  their  bones.  Native 
tradition  also  asserts  it,  as  there  are  still  songs  of  hunting  the 
Moa  extant.  It  is  yet  to  be  ascertained  whether  it  is  not 
still  alive  in  the  Middle  Island.f 

The  character  and  general  features  therefore  of  the  Middle 
Island  have  undergone,  and  are  still  undergoing,  a  rapid  change. 
As  the  mountain  ranges  become  more  and  more  elevated,  the 

*  It  is  singular  that  the  old  Natives  affirm,  since  their  early  days  there  has 
been  a  wonderful  decrease  of  those  birds,  which  they  regarded  as  their  chief 
mfans  of  subsistence,  such  as  the  Kiwi,  Weka,  and  ELakapo ;  though  they  were 
formerly  so  abundant,  that  they  could  obtain  them  everywhere  without 
difficulty,  they  are  now  so  rare  as  seldom  to  be  met  with,  and  the  Kak^K)  is 
all  but  extinct  in  the  Northern  Island.  This  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  anything 
connected  with  the  coming  of  Europeans,  but  rather  to  some  other  cause — 
perhaps  to  change  of  climate.  The  European  cat,  dog,  and  rat,  are  all  more 
recently  introduced  enemies,  and  great  ones  too ;  but,  before  their  appearance, 
the  natural  supply  had  begun  to  decrease,  so  much  so,  that  they  were  greatly 
pinched  for  food  before  the  Europeans  came,  whose  arrival  was  so  opportune, 
that  we  may  ascribe  it  justly  to  God's  good  providence  among  other  benefits 
to  furnish  fresh  means  of  sustenance  for  the  Aborigines  of  these  Isles,  when 
their  own  had  so  remarkably  failed. 

t  Mr.  Meurant,  employed  by  the  Government  as  Native  Interpreter,  stated 
to  me  that  in  the  latter  end  of  1823,  he  saw  the  flesh  of  the  Moa  in  Molyneux 
harbour;  since  that  period,  he  has  seen  feathers  of  the  same  bird  in  the 
Native*s  hair.  They  were  of  a  black  or  dark  colour,  with  a  purple  edge, 
having  quills  like  those  of  the  Albatross  in  size,  but  much  coarser.  He  saw 
a  Moa  bone  which  reached  four  inches  above  his  hip  from  the  ground,  and  as 
thick  as  his  knee,  with  flesh  and  sinews  upon  it.  The  flesh  looked  like 
beef.  The  slaves  who  were  from  the  interior,  said  that  it  was  still  to  be  found 
inland.  The  Natives  told  him  that  the  one  whose  flesh  he  had  seen  was  a  dead 
one,  which  they  had  found  accidentally,  that  they  had  often  endeavoured  to 
snare  them  but  without  success.  A  man  named  George  Pauley,  now  living  in 
Foveaux  Straits,  told  him  he  had  seen  the  Moa,  which  he  described  as  being 
an  immense  monster,  standing  about  twenty  feet  high.  He  saw  it  near  a  lake 
in  the  interior.  It  ran  from  him  and  he  also  from  it.  He  saw  its  footmarks 
before  ho  came  to  the  river  Tairi,  and  the  mountains.  Thomas  Chasseland, 
the  man  who  interpreted  for  Meurant,  was  weU  acquainted  with  the  Maori 
language.    He  also  saw  the  flesh,  and,  at  first,  they  thought  it  was  human. 

The  Diuornis  may  also  be  discovered  in  New  Guinea  and  other  islands  in 
the  same  line  to  the  north  of  New  Zealand. 


/ 


THE   QEOLOQY   OF   NEW    ZEALAND.  X69 

climate  must  be  proportion  ably  refrigerated.  Nor  will  thb 
be  the  only  change  effected :  large  tracts  of  level  land  will  be 
also  upheaved.  That  this  has  already  been  the  case  to  a 
considerable  extent  is  evident  from  the  extensive  plains  on  the 
eastern  side ;  that  it  is  still  going  on  is  also  evident  from  the 
observation  of  every  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  island. 
Large  mud  flats  are  now  being  formed  at  the  hiouth  of  almost 
every  river,  and  there  are  low  plains  covered  with  timber,  which 
are  scarcely  above  the  highest  tides.  That  this  will  continue  to 
be  the  case  is  most  probable.  The  rapid  streams  and  rivers 
flowing  from  the  adjacent  lofty  mountains  must  bring  down  im- 
mense quantities  of  stone  and  soil,  which  Nature  in  her  secret 
laboratory  is  preparing  to  form  future  plains  for  man's  use.  The 
courses  of  these  streams,  or  rather  torrents,  being  so  short,  and 
the  mountain  sides  so  sharp  and  precipitous,  as  to  be  acted  upon 
by  every  storm,  vast  masses  are  thus  being  continually  detached, 
having  been  previously  loosened  by  earthquakes  ;  entire  sides 
of  mountains  frequently  slip  down ;  the  heavy  rains  increasing 
the  body  of  water  in  the  rivers,  aid  in  transporting  their  debris 
to  the  ocean  bed,  where  they  are  dispersed  and  spread  out, 
layer  above  layer,  until  repeated  upheavements  lift  the  whole 
to  the  surface,  first  as  mud  flats,  then  above  the  level  of 
ordinary  tides,  when  it  speedily  becomes  covered  with  a 
luxuriant  vegetation. 


mWry 


:a^^ 


240  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

This  leads  to  the  consideration  of  the  sedimentary  deposits* 
These  are  chiefly  marine  or  lacustrine.  The  marine  are  formed 
in  the  way  already  mentioned,  and  the  shoal  seas  around  a 
great  portion  of  these  Islands  mark  their  extent.  On  the 
western  coast  of  the  North  Island,  it  is  evident  vast  tracts  of 
land  have  been  gained  from  the  sea,  by  the  deposits  of  the 
Wanganui,  Rangitikei,  and  Manawatu  rivers.  Near  the 
coast,  in  that  part,  the  land  is  generally  low,  covered  with 
gravel  or  shingle,  and  with  large  quantities  of  drift  timber; 
inland  it  is  alternate  swamp  and  grass  with  parallel  ranges  of 
ancient  sand  hills,  now  covered  with  a  growth  of  feni.  Near 
the  sea,  and  especially  near  the  mouth  of  rivers,  large  quanti- 
ties of  sand  are  blown  up  from  the  shore,  and  form  drifting 
sand  hills.  This  is,  evidently,  a  portion  of  the  matter  brought 
down  the  rivers  by  the  floods ;  the  mud  being  precipitated  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  by  the  coagulating  action  of  the  salt 
water  upon  it,  there  gradually  forms  a  compact  mass:  but 
the  sand  having  nothing  to  fix  it,  is,  by  constant  attrition, 
washed  finer  and  finer,  and  then  thrown  up  by  the  high  tides 
in  large  quantities  on  the  shore,  whence  the  sea  breeze 
speedily  conveys  it  inland. 

The  vallies  of  New  Zealand  are  not  numerous  or  extensive  ; 
indeed  the  almost  entire  absence  of  them,  and  the  acute  pointed 
hills,  which  are  only  separated  from  each  other  by  deep  ravines, 
are  to  be  considered  as  amongst  the  peculiar  features  of  this 
country,  and  as  most  of  these  have  never  been  touched  by  the 
hand  of  man,  they  enable  the  Geologist  to  observe  the  exact 
state  in  which  they  were  first  upheaved.  The  remarkable 
way  in  which  the  surface  of  these  Islands  was  fractured  when 
first  elevated,  is  yet  to  be  observed  as  plainly  as  though  it  had 
recently  taken  place ;  for  whilst  one  side  of  a  hill  is  covered 
with  the  debris  of  primitive  rocks,  gravel,  and  vegetable  mould, 
the  other  is  either  ochre  or  pipe  clay,  destitute  of  any  rolled 
stone,  without  soil;  the  fern  also  on  one  side  is  of  a  more 
luxuriant  growth  than  on  the  other.* 

Another  kind  of  sedimentary  deposit  remains  to  be  noticed, — 

*   The  country  is  cracked  at  an  augU'  of  45*'. 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.  241 

the  volcanic.  Wherever  a  volcano  has  arisen  near  the  sea,  or 
in  the  sea,  it  has  formed  sedimentary  strata  around,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  of  matter  ejected.  Much  of  this  kind  of 
formation  is  seen  at  Wangaroa,  and  Hick'^s  Bay,  where  the 
rocks  are  composed  of  volcanic  grit,  and  contain  most  of  the 
shells  now  found  on  the  coast.  These  deposits  are  doubtless 
very  extensive  in  a  country  where  volcanic  agency  has  been  so 
active. 

Whilst  the  Geologist  marks  these  strata  and  the  volcanic 
features  of  the  country,  he  is  also  struck  with  the  frequent 
upheavements  the  various  localities  have  undergone.  No  one 
can  walk  from  Wanganui  to  Taranaki  without  observing  the 
manyalterations  of  level  which  have  taken  place  in  that  district. 
Near  the  north  head  of  that  river  he  beholds,  at  low  water,  the 
stumps  of  ancient  trees  still  maintaining  their  position  in  the 
sea ;  and  on  the  shore  another  level  appears  with  numerous 
trees  jutting  out,  which  are  covered  with  lofty  sand  hills. 
Wai  Totara, — the  river  of  Totara  trees, — takes  its  name  from 
a  thick  grove  still  standing  in  its  bed,  which  so  obstructs  its 
course  that  a  canoe  can  hardly  wind  its  way  amongst  the  many 
trunks  which  rise  up  in  it.  At  Manawa-pou,  where  the 
cliffs  are  little  less  than  four  hundred  feet  high,  large  stumps 
are  also  seen  standing  in  the  ocean,  where  they  have  braved 
for  years  the  force  of  the  violent  surf  which  breaks  upon  that 
coast.  Further  on,  the  cliffs  become  even  yet  higher,  and 
there  also  similar  remains  of  forest  are  seen  at  the  level  of  the 
ocean,  above  which  is  a  thick  stratum  of  blue  clay,  containing 
numerous  marine  deposits;  upon  this  there  is  another  level 
with  large  trunks  of  trees,  which  are  covered  with  alternate 
strata  of  gravel,  shingle,  and  sand,  then  another  layer  of  timber 
is  seen,  upon  which  are  other  deposits,  forming  the  present 
surface  of  the  land. 

By  reflecting  upon  these  changes,  it  is  at  once  perceived 
how  many  convulsions  must  have  shattered  the  land,  alternately 
elevated  it,  allowing  time  for  a  stately  growth  of  timber,  then 
sinking  it  again  into  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  where,  year  after 
year,  age  after  age,  the  gradual  deposit  of  mud,  finally  attains  a 
thickness  of  more  than  a  hundred  feet,  another  convulsion  up- 


242  THE  GEOLOGY  OF   NEW   ZEALAND. 

heaves  the  whole,  allows  time  for  another  growth  of  forest, 
when  all  again  subsides,  and  the  same  gradual  process  is 
repeated.  The  traveller  along  the  coast  has  only  to  read  these 
pages  of  the  Earth's  history,  which  are  unfolded  for  his 
instruction,  and  reflect  upon  them ;  but  this  is  only  a  page, 
and  one  which  is  visible :  another  remains  still  to  be  examined. 

The  sure  indications  of  coal,  which  further  along  the  coast 
crops  out,  betoken  a  series  of  more  ancient  convulsions. 
Modem  subsidings  of  the  earth's  surface  to  such  an  extent 
are,  happily,  rare,  although,  doubtless,  many  occur  in  places 
where  there  are  none  to  see  or  to  make  them  known.*  To 
what  is  the  present  exemption  from  such  terrible  visitations 
in  these  islands  to  be  attributed  ?  but  to  the  volcanoes  which 
extend  through  them.  They  have  poured  forth  their  streams 
of  molten  rock :  they  have  filled  up  the  cracks  and  crevices  of 
the  earth's  crust :  they  have  strengthened  the  deficiencies  of 
its  framework,  and  hindered  the  recurrence  of  future  convulsions. 
Small,  perhaps,  as  the  extent  of  these  islands  now  is,  to  what 
it  formerly  was,  these  streams  of  lava  stop  further  encroachments 
on  the  land.  Thus,  while  the  ocean  is  rapidly  gaining][on 
some  parts  of  the  south-west  coast  of  the  Northern  Island, 
the  promontory  of  Cape  Egmont  presents  its  front  to  the 
surge,  and  withstands  its  fury;  strengthened  by  numerous 
streams  of  lava,  which  are  plainly  seen  like  buttresses  at  every 
headland  from  that  Cape  as  far  as  the  Sugar-loaf  rocks,  they 
form  so  many  impassable  barriers  to  the  further  inroads  of 
the  ocean. 

That  these  islands  have  been  disrupted  by  former  convulsions, 
is  seen  by  a  single  glance  at  the  map ;  but  the  period  is,  per- 
haps, as  far  back  as  the  general  disjunction  of  the  continental 
line  of  which  New  Zealand  is  only  a  surviving  link. 

A  few  words  remain  to  be  said  of  the  rocks  of  New  Zealand. 
In  the  North,  the  basis  is  whin,  above  which  is  an  ochreous 
clay,   containing   bright    particles   of  magnetic    iron,   which 

*  The  natives  have  several  traditions  of  lands  and  islands  having^  been  sub- 
merged. There  is  one  of  an  island  near  Taranaki,  which  had  a  very  large' Pa 
npon  it,  suddenly  sinking  with  all  its  inhabitants  during  the  night ;  of  another 
at  Patea,  and  of  an  island  in  Cook's  Straits,  called  Titapua,  thus  disappearing. 


1HE   QKOLOOY   OF    NEW    ZEAUXI).  243 

prevails  from  the  North  Cape  to  tlie  Bay  of  Islands.*  Steatite 
is  also  common.  Limestone  shows  itself  in  various  localities, 
and  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  whin,  it  is  seen  in  apparently 
half  melted  lumps  in  the  midst  of  that  rock ;  in  other  parts 
it  assumes  an  amygdaloid  form.  Another  line  of  limestone 
appears  at  Mokau,  a  third  at  Waiapu,  near  the  East  Cape. 


These  limestone  ranges  are  remarkably  destitute  of  fossils, 
hut  generally  they  partake  more  of  the  purity  of  marble, 
although  the  surface  rock  contains  many  particles  of  clay  stone 
gravel.  At  Mokau  there  are  nomeroua  caves,  in  some  of 
which  the  bones  of  the  Moa  have  been  discovered.f  At 
Wangeroa  gneiss  forms  the  summit  of  the  two  mountains,  St. 
Peter  and  Sl  Paul,     The  same  is  the  prevailing  rock  at 

*  Magnetic  iron  land  abounds  in  manj  localities  i  it  is  heapeil  up  on  the 
dhores  in  billocki  o(  Bereral  feet  in  height,  and  it  hai  been  fonnd  tu  be  *wj 
pure,  and  will  eventually  prove  a  ralnaUa  article  of  commerce. 

f  About  a  mile  from  Pukemapau,  we  came  to  a  large  care  Id  the  limeatona 
range  which  b  here  firat  met  with.  It  i>  called  Tanam-e-nre.  It  has  a  large 
loftj  entrance,  with  a  naliTe  Fnichia  growing  at  ila  mouth,  bearing  a  more 
delicate  flower  than  that  of  the  ordinary  kind  Huge  masses  of  stalactit* 
hang  pendant  from  the  roof,  and,  further  in,  we  perceived  a  chasm,  wluch, 
when  a  stone  was  thrown,  told  us  there  was  water  at  the  bottom,  B;  the 
aid  of  a  candle,  we  found  our  wa;  down,  when  we  came  to  a  fine  crystal 
stream,  about  a  foot  or  so  deep,  which  was  soon  passed.  Having  ascended 
the  opposite  side  about  twentj  feet,  and  crept  through  a  narrow  passage 
among   stalactites,  which  were  united  with  the  floor,   we  entered  anotW 


244  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Taranaki^  and  of  the  intervening  peaks  between  it  and 
Tongariro;  there  scoria  and  fused  rocks  prevail  so  much, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  is  the  basis  of  the  mountain. 
There  is  much  obsidian  and  pumice  near  Taupo.  The 
Tararua  range,  which  terminates  at  Te  Pari-pari,  near  Kapiti, 
has  a  compact  slate  for  its  base.  Copper  has  been  discovered 
at  Doubtless  Bay,  and  at  the  Kawa-kawa  and  Barrier  Islands. 
Coal  is  found  of  good  quality  at  the  Mokau,  Waikato,  and 
Wanganui  Rivers,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that 
it  will  prove  a  very  abundant  mineral  in  these  islands.  Gold 
has  been  discovered  in  Coromandel  harbour ;  there  the  rocks 
are  of  remarkably  pure  feltspar,  of  dazzling  brightness.  The 
gold  discovered  contains  ^  silver,  and  is  found  in  thin  plates, 
and  in  considerable  quantity :  it  is  said  to  have  been  also  dis- 
covered at  Ahuriri,  and  in  several  other  localities. 

Of  the  rocks  of  the  Middle  Island  little  is  at  present  known ; 
but  as  they  are  reported  to  be  chiefly  primitive,  it  is  very 
probable  all  the  precious  metals  will  be  found  there  in  abun- 
dance. The  rock  which  confers  its  native  name  on  the 
island — Pounamu,  green  jade,  is  abundant  and  highly  prized 
by  the  New  Zealanders,  who  manufacture  their  ornaments 
and  the  much-valued  Mere  from  it.  Portions  of  it  are  so 
transparent  and  lustrous  as  to  render  it  worthy  of  a  place 
amongst  the  precious  stones. 


HX  KSftSMEKB  PODNAMU,   PmSSENTXD  TO  THK   QUKBN. 

apartment  hung  with  transparent  stalactites  of  every  form  and  sixe,  which 
gare  it  quite  a  fairy  look;  thence  we  entered  two  other  rooms,  equally 
ornamented.  As  we  had  no  ladder,  we  could  not  reach  other  passages, 
which  were  some  height  from  the  floor,  and,  evidently,  led  to  other  rooms. 


A   VISIT  TO    KCn-O-MAHAIIA. 


I  cannot  better  conclude  this  chapter  than  b;  ^ving  an 
account  of  a  visit  which  I  paid  to  the  Warm  Lake. 

The  first  view  of  Roto-Mahana  is  very  remarkable,  and 
cannot  fail  to  excite  the  traveller's  astonishment.  The  lake 
lies  in  a  great  hollow,  evidently  a  crater,  flanked  on  the  side 
by  which  we  approached  its  margin  with  lofty  precipices ;  bat 
containing  a  considerable  extent  of  low  swampy  land  along  one 
of  the  shores ;  the  opposite  bank  ia  formed  of  hills,  literally 
covered  with  boiling  springs,  emitting  volumes  of  steam,  and 
the  soil  being  of  red  or  white  ochre,  gives  the  whole  a  most 

The  travellers  who  had  riaited  tlus  cave,  have  mode  dreadful  havoc  amongst 
these  naturrU  beauties;  breaking  off  moro  thou  the^  could  carrj  awaj*  But 
many  had  evidentlj  been  broken  long  before  Europeans  visited  the  place, 
and,  formerly,  the  natives  were  too  HDperatitious  to  enter  such  spots: 
largo  fraL-lured  stalactites,  having  smaller  ones  attached  to  their  eitremitiei, 
were  obsorved.  The  solid  rock,  too,  on  both  sides,  was  Troctured  in 
regular  lines,  this  had  evidently  been  done  by  earthquakes,  which  moat 
probably,  had  caused  many  of  these  pendant  masses  to  fall.  Some  of  the 
stalactites  must  bare  tieigbed  a  ton,  and  were  full  eight  feet  long,  and  two  in 
diameter.  Tbe  rock  was  of  a  pure  cream  colour.  Under  the  stalsgmite 
whichcoverertthefloor  there  was  a  layer  of  dark  vegetable  soil,  but,  although 
it  was  dug  into,  no  bones  were  fonnd.  Tbo  Icnglli  of  the  cave  was  estimated 
at  about  a  hundred  feet  from  l]io  entrance.  "Hie  natives  stated  that  there 
were  many  similar  caves,  some  of  which  are  quite  Glled  with  Moa  bones. 


246  A   VISIT   TO   KOTO-MAHANA. 

extraordinary  appearance.  On  the  lower  side  it  has  an  outlet 
into  the  Tarawera  Lake.  There  are  several  islands  in  it,  some 
merely  a  few  connected  tufts  of  grass^  but  abounding  in  water 
fowl,  ducks,  pukeko  (porphyrio)  and  sea  birds,  which  appear  to 
delight  in  the  warmth  of  their  abode.  Two  of  these  islands 
present  a  singular  appearance,  being  composed  of  misshapen 
rocks  and  ochreous  hills,  filled  with  boiling  cauldrons  and 
jets  of  vapour,  intermingled  with  manuka  trees  and  native  huts, 
on  reaching  which,  the  stranger  scarcely  knows  where  to  set  his 
foot,  lest  he  should  tread  on  unsafe  ground,  the  whole  surface 
being  very  hot,  and  overspread  with  fragments  of  former  puia. 

When  we  came  to  the  border  of  the  lake,  two  canoes  put 
off  from  one  of  the  islands,  to  convey  us  over.  Being  desirous 
of  ascertaining  the  temperature  of  the  water,  I  kept  my  hand 
in  it  whilst  crossing,  and  found  that  it  varied  from  90  to  120 
degrees  Fahrenheit ;  the  difference  of  heat  in  places  may  be 
attributed  to  the  innumerable  boiling  springs  at  the  bottom  of 
the  lake,  the  existence  of  which  was  detected  on  the  surface, 
by  their  bubbling  up  and  noise.  The  lake  appears  to  be  of 
great  depth — the  water  had  no  peculiar  flavour. 

On  reaching  the  island,  we  were  received  by  the  natives  with 
a  loud  welcome ;  and  after  a  short  stay,  we  went,  during  the 
culinary  operations  of  our  hosts,  to  examine  one  of  the  puia^ 
or  hot  springs,  in  the  vicinity,  and  a  more  remarkable  place 
I  never  saw.  It  had  the  appearance  of  an  immense  flight  of 
white  marble  stairs,  each  step  being  from  one  to  three  feet  in 
height,  of  a  silicious  stone,  formed  by  the  deposit  of  the  waters; 
in  some  places  of  a  beautiful  pale  pink  color,  over  which  about 
two  inches  of  warm  water  fell.  I  ascended  this  magnificent 
and  unequalled  staircase,  some  parts  of  which  were  so  slippery, 
that  I  had  some  difficulty  in  keeping  my  footing.  One  of  the 
steps  presented  merely  a  rim  externally,  and  formed  a  basin, 
about  four  feet  in  depth,  of  beautifully  clear  water,  having 
a  greenish  hue,  like  that  of  the  lake  over  which  we  had  passed. 
Neither  I  nor  my  companion  could  resist  the  tempting  luxury 
of  the  bath  which  was  before  us.  We  found  the  temperature 
to  be  nearly  90^,  although  it  varied  in  each  of  the  three  com- 
partments into  which  the  bath  was  divided.     Afterwards,  I 


A   VISIT  TO   ROTO-MAHANA.  247 

ascended  to  the  summit  of  the  staircase,  where  there  was  a 
large  level  flat ;  the  centre  not  being  visible  at  first  on  account  of 
the  volume  of  steam  which  issued  from  it;  the  surface  cracked 
imder  the  feet  like  thin  ice,  but  being  formed  of  successive 
laminae,  was  firm.  As  I  advanced,  I  discovered  that  the 
centre  was  occupied  by  an  immense  gulf  of  hot  water,  of  a 
very  fine  pale  blue  color,  so  remarkably  clear  that,  although 
the  bottom  could  not  be  discerned,  it  was  evidently  of  great 
depth.  Having  cautiously  approached  the  edge  which  over- 
arched this  awful  abyss,  and  looking  down,  I  beheld  a  large  rock 
of  a  pure  white  substance  rising  from  the  vast  profound  almost 
to  the  surface,  which  formed  a  beautiful  contrast  with  the  azure 
water.  A  tree  also  which  had  fallen  in  was  likewise  petrified, 
and  added  to  the  scene.  Upon  one  part  of  the  pavement, 
over  which  the  water  had  flowed,  a  thin  deposit  of  sulphur 
was  left,  which  tinged  it  with  a  bright  yellow ;  some  of  the 
steps  being  of  a  rose  tint,  and  others  of  a  pure  white,  increased 
the  general  efiect.  Numbers  of  petrified  manuka  seeds  were 
scattered  about  in  every  direction.  The  height  of  the  flight  of 
steps  which  I  have  described,  might  be  about  sixty  feet ;  the 
name  of  the  boiling  spring  is  <'  Tukupuarangi;'  or  the  Cloudy 
Atmosphere,  from  its  always  being  shrowded  with  vapour. 
The  surrounding  hills  are  covered  with  dark  green  fern, 
which  sets  off  this  wonderful  work  of  nature  to  greater 
advantage.  So  large  a  number  of  boiling  springs  in  so  small 
a  space,  I  never  beheld ;  indeed,  I  could  distinctly  hear  the 
noise  of  several  at  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  and  others  boiling 
up  furiously  from  their  subterranean  receptacles,  all  which 
convey  to  the  mind  of  a  traveller  a  feeling  of  awe  and  in- 
security. It  is  not  without  some  hesitation  that  he  treads  the 
ground,  fearing  at  each  step  lest  the  crust  should  give  way  and 
plunge  him  into  the  hidden  depths  below. 

The  sun  had  set  when  we  returned  to  the  island,  and  finding 
that  our  natives  had  gone  on  to  Piripai  we  followed  by  canoe, 
gliding  amongst  islands  covered  with  rushes,  and  every  instant 
starting  the  wild  fowl  from  their  warm  retreats.  We  landed 
in  a  retired  nook  shaded  with  trees,  and  after  securing  the 
canoe  we  walked  to  the  village,    which  is    seated   on   the 


248  A   VISIT   TO   ROTO-MAHANA. 

**  Tarawera  Lake,"  where  we  received  a  cordial  welcome. 
Immediately  opposite,  tliere  is  a  lofty  mountain  which  the 
natives  formerly  regarded  as  sacred,  from  the  idea  that  it  was 
the  abode  of  spirits ;  they  said,  although  many  persons  had 
attempted  to  ascend  it,  no  one  ever  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
top ;  for  the  higher  they  climbed,  the  higher  also  grew  the 
mountain.  The  teacher  of  the  village  is  a  "  tuwenua  " — ^a 
kind  of  leper,  whose  toes  and  fingers  seemed  to  be  wearing 
away  with  dry  ulcerous  looking  sores,  his  skin  being  quite 
homy.  There  were  two  other  lepers  there,  which,  as  the 
disease  is  uncommon,  I  looked  upon  as  a  remarkable  occur- 
rence, especially  in  so  small  a  place;  probably  the  hot 
sulphureous  springs  may  have  something  to  do  with  it.  The 
whole  of  the  front  teeth  of  these  people  are  either  much 
decayed,  or  quite  yellow  and  unsightly,  which  may  be 
attributed  to  their  constantly  cooking  their  food  in  the 
boiling  springs.  The  night  which  we  passed  was  so  extremely 
cold  that  I  could  scarcely  sleep ;  this  appeared  singular  as 
the  Pa  is  surrounded  by  hot  springs,  and  the  inference  to 
be  drawn  from  their  proximity,  where  hundreds  of  them  are 
sending  up  their  clouds  of  steam,  is,  that  it  would  materially 
heighten  the  temperature,  and  this  supposition  would  be 
strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that  a  large  and  deep  lake 
of  warm  water  and  of  nearly  a  mile  in  length  is  in  the  imme- 
diate  vicinity ;  but  such  is  not  the  case,  for  although  the  water 
is  warm,  the  air  one  foot  above  it  is  very  cold. 

The  next  morning  I  arose  early  and  accompanied  by  my 
companion,  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  largest  puia  or  boiling  spring 
called  "  Te  Tarata.^^  At  the  first  view  its  appearance  is  that  of 
an  immens^e  flight  of  steps,  of  a  circular  form,  with  water  flowing 
over  them,  which  seemed  to  freeze  as  it  fell,  assuming  the 
color  of  snow.  The  water  here  is  of  a  different  character  to 
that  of  the  Tukupuarangi,  being  of  a  bluish,  milky  hue,  and 
having  a  very  soft  and  slightly  saline  flavour :  the  change  in  its 
temperature  I  found  very  striking,  for  in  some  parts  it  was 
quite  cold,  while  in  others  it  was  warm  or  hot.  On  some  of 
the  steps  there  was  a  very  slippery  deposit  of  a  brown  ochreous 
substance ;  on  others,  a  formation  closely  resembling  a  kind 


A   VISIT  TO   ROTO-BiAHANA.  249 

of  moss,  slightly  petrified.  As  I  ascended  I  found  the  steps 
increase  in  height  and  width,  each  containing  one  or  more  baths, 
some  of  cold  water,  others  of  warm,  and  some  of  both  in  the 
same  basin.  In  one  of  the  largest  my  companion  and  two  or 
three  of  the  natives  who  accompanied  us  entered.  This  noble 
bath  was  nearly  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  in  parts  too  deep  to 
wade  through.  As  I  wished  to  ascend  to  the  higher  steps  to 
get  a  view  of  the  boiling  gulf,  I  requested  my  companion  to 
call  his  dog  which  was  following  me.  In  going  up  I  found 
the  water  almost  too  hot  for  the  naked  feet,  and  therefore 
crept  up  along  the  sides  where  the  manuka  and  fern  were 
growing  very  luxuriantly,  and,  strange  to  say,  although  over- 
hanging the  steamy  water,  it  felt  icy  cold  to  the  feet.  On 
reaching  the  top  of  the  flight  of  steps,  I  found  the  silicious 
deposit  had  formed  a  level  pavement,  over  which  one  or  two 
inches  of  water,  nearly  boiling,  flowed,  beyond  was  a  small 
pool,  close  to  the  gulf,  which  occupied  the  centre,  and  sent 
forth  volumes  of  vapour,  completely  concealing  its  form  from 
view.  In  the  middle  of  the  platform,  was  a  rocky  mound 
overhanging  the  chasm,  where  those  who  reached  it  obtained  a 
nearer  sight  of  the  abyss;  to  facilitate  which,  a  row  of  stepping 
stones  had  been  laid  for  travellers  to  pass  over.  As  I  was 
advancing  along  these,  the  poor  dog,  who  had  broken  away 
from  its  master,  ran  past  me,  and  finding  the  water  scald  his 
feet,  he  bounded  on  with  a  yell  of  pain,  and^  in  an  instant, 
plunged  into  the  pool  of  hot  water.  The  poor  animal  made  a 
vain  attempt  to  escape,  it  rolled  over,  and  in  an  instant  was 
dead,  and  sank  to  the  bottom ;  its  agonizing  struggles  quite 
unnerved  me ;  it  was  one  of  the  most  distressing  and  painful 
sights  I  ever  witnessed.  I  could  render  no  aid,  and  knew 
if  I  had  rescued  the  poor  creature,  its  torments  would  only 
have  been  prolonged.  After  seeing  it  at  the  bottom  of  the  pool 
which  had  thus  suddenly  become  its  grave,  I  retraced  my  steps. 
I  afterwards  learned  that  two  poor  children  met  a  similar  end 
some  few  years  back  in  a  neighbouring  puia ;  the  elder  one, 
who  was  carrying  an  infant,  went  to  take  out  a  basket  of 
potatoes  which  had  been  cooking  in  it ;  when,  standing  on  the 
verge,    the  infant  struggled  in  its  bearer*s  arms,  and  it  is 


250 


A   VTSTT   TO    ROTO-HAHANA. 


supposed,  fell  m ;  the  other,  without  heaitation,  jumped  after 
to  reacue  it.     The  place  has  ever  since  been  "  tapu." 

These  wonderful  works  of  the  Creator,  while  they  excite 
our  admiration,  cannot  be  looked  upon  without  awe :  it  is  here 
we  see  a  portion  of  the  grand  laboratory  of  nature,  where  the 
process  of  resolving  aud  renewing  is  constantly  going  on ;  here 
we  see  how  easily  soft  and  impalpable  powder  can  be  cemented 
into  solid  stone,  and  the  apparently  indestructible  rocks  be 
either  softened  and  reduced  to  mud,  or  sublimed  so  as  to  fly 
off  in  gas. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


The  Climate  of  New  Zealand  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  mildest 
in  the  world,  certainly  the  most  ao  of  all  the  colonies  belong- 
ing to  Great  Britain.  Extending  for  more  than  a  thousand 
miles,  from  latitude  34®  to  47°,  in  the  form  of  a  long  curve,  its 
northern  termination  being  in  the  parallel  of  Sydney,  and  its 
southern  beyond  that  of  Van  Diemen's  Land,  it  has  throughout 
an  equableness  of  climate,  which  is  remarkable.  The  general 
width  of  the  isles  not  being  commensurate  with  the  length, 
causes  the  sea  to  have  great  power  in  reducing  the  heat  of 
summer  and  the  cold  of  winter.  The  wannest  part  has  not 
the  heat  of  Sydney,  nor  yet  the  cold  winds  there  felt ;  the  most 
southerly  part  has  still  the  fem-tree  flourishing  in  all  its 
luxuriance,  and  its  forests  retain  their  summer  foliage.    Whilst 


252  CLIMATE. 

the  continent  of  Australia  is  remarkably  deficient  in  springs 
and  streams^  and  liable  to  frequent  droughts.  New  Zealand, 
intercepting  the  clouds  from  the  east,  has  a  never-failing 
supply  of  moisture,  which  insures  its  fertility  and  certainty 
of  crops.  This  may  account  in  some  measure  for  the  extreme 
aridity  of  Australia,  and  the  humidity  of  New  Zealand.  It 
is  indeed  a  land  of  rivers  and  springs  ;  where  can  we  discover 
a  country  better  watered  ?  The  climate  is  moist,  but  this  is 
chiefly  the  case  where  the  country  is  the  narrowest ;  on  this 
account  the  quantity  of  rain  which  falls  at  Auckland  is  much 
greater  than  that  at  Wellington,  and  the  least  on  the  western 
and  eastern  coasts. 

It  is  generally  said  there  are  ten  degrees  difference  between 
the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres,  the  latter  being  so 
much  colder  than  the  former.  As  far  as  my  experience  goes, 
it  is  not  correct ;  this  does  not  apply  either  to  New  Holland 
or  New  Zealand.  The  chief  difference  between  these  islands, 
and  lands  in  a  similar  northern  latitude,  appears  in  the  latter, 
having  a  greater  amount  of  summer  heat  and  winter  cold 
to  that  of  New  Zealand ;  in  the  warmest  part,  the  thermo- 
meter seldom  rises  beyond  80^  in  summer,  or  sinks  below  40® 
in  winter.  There  is  occasionally  ice  as  thick  as  half-a-crown, 
but  that  is  of  seldom  occurrence  ;  in  general,  though  the 
nights  of  winter  are  cold,  the  days  are  delightfully  warm  and 
fine.  In  the  southern  parts  of  New  Zealand,  the  prevailing 
character  of  the  winter  is  cold  wind  and  rain ;  in  the  parts 
where  the  island  attains  a  greater  width,  there  are  generally 
three  frosty  nights  at  the  full  of  the  moon.  In  the  interior,  the 
winter's  cold  is  greater,  and  the  frosts  more  frequent,  but 
the  days  arc  warm  and  fine.  There  also  in  summer,  the  heat  is 
greater  than  on  the  coast.  The  snow  occasionally  falls  in  some 
parts  of  the  Middle  Island,  but  does  not  remain  in  the  North 
Island ;  it  does  not  fall  near  the  coast,  only  on  the  interior 
elevated  plains.  During  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  once 
only  have  a  few  flakes  fallen  at  Wanganui,  in  the  night,  but 
it  was  only  seen  on  the  hills  until  sunrise. 

The  two  highest  mountains  in  the  Northern  Island  are 
Tongariro  and  Taranaki.     The  snow  line  is  about  7,000  feet 


HEALTHINESS. 


253 


above  the  level  of  the  soa,  and  this  being  in  the  Bouthem  part 
of  the  Northern  Island,  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  some 
idea  of  its  general  temperature. 


From  climate  we  naturally  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the 
healthiness  or  unhealthiness  of  the  country ;  and  in  this  respect, 
we  shall  find  New  Zealand,  perhaps,  not  inferior  to  any  country. 
It  is  naturally  healthy ;  and  those  who  have  come  to  its  shores 
in  a  delicate  state,  have,  in  general,  been  speedily  restored. 
The  chief  diseases  of  the  country  are  those  affecting  the 
nerves;  but  these,  in  a  great  measure,  are  to  he  ascribed 
to  careless  exposure; — the  climate  being  so  mild,  numbers 
sleep  out,  throwing  tliemselves  on  the  ground  without  any 
protection  from  the  heavy  dews,  beyond,  perhaps,  a  cloak. 
This  cannot  be  done  with  impunity.  Rheumatic  pains,  fever, 
&c.,  sooner  or  later,  will  remind  the  person  of  his  imprudence ; 
they  become  so  naturalized  in  the  system,  as  never  afterwards 
to  be  eradicated.     But  those  who  take  a  tythe  of  the  precau- 


254  HEALTHINESS. 

tion  used  to  preserve  health  at  home,  may  calculate  on  a  greater 
amount  of  it  in  New  Zealand. 

But  it  is  not  the  consideration  of  the  natural  healthiness  of 
the  islands,  so  much  as  the  degree  in  which  they  will  be 
influenced  by  European  colonization.  It  is  well  known, 
that  when  the  West  Indies  and  America  were  first  dis- 
covered, they  were  remarkably  healthy,  and  free  from  disease ; 
but  after  being  colonized,  they  rapidly  deteriorated.  This  has 
been  and  is  still  the  case  in  Australia  and  Polynesia.  The 
European  intercourse  is  not  of  unmixed  benefit ;  if  we  impart 
good,  we  also  bestow  evil.  In  the  old  countries,  every  disease 
is  naturalized,  and  although  not  developed,  yet  the  seeds  re- 
main in  the  system,  and  thus  we  unconsciously  communicate 
it  to  the  natives  of  the  lands  we  occupy ;  in  fact,  we  intro- 
duce sickness  by  the  very  vapour  which  imperceptibly  emanates 
from  our  bodies*  In  some  degree  this  may  be  occasioned  by  the 
different  mode  of  living ;  by  the  food  and  raiment  we  introduce. 
In  their  natural  state,  they  were  so  simple  in  both,  that  there 
was  little  place  for  disease ;  and  if  man  escaped  the  accidents 
of  life,  war,  &c.,  he  died  as  a  matter  of  course  from  extreme 
old  age.  The  animal  machine  lasted  until  its  various  parts 
were  fairly  worn  out.  I  have  noticed  this  especially  with  the 
teeth,  having  seen  those  who  have  attained  extreme  old  age 
with  all  their  teeth  perfectly  sound  and  firm,  but  worn  down 
to  the  very  gums.  I  have  no  doubt  the  same  was  formerly  the 
case  with  our  forefathers.  When  curate  of  a  very  ancient 
church  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  I  recollect  that  whenever  an  un- 
usually deep  grave  was  dug,  the  teeth  of  the  skulls  thrown  up 
were  thus  worn  down.  This  will  not  be  the  case  long  in  New 
Zealand  ;  the  natives  are  now  subject  to  decayed  teeth  almost 
as  much  as  Europeans,  and  they  lose  them  the  same.  On  the 
subject  of  teeth,  it  is  remarkable,  that  those  of  children  bom 
in  these  colonies  are  invariably  bad,  both  in  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  and  they  very  early  lose  them. 

Ectropium,  the  turning  inside  out  of  the  eyelid,  is  very 
common,  and  was  more  so  in  former  days  :  smoky  houses  are 
probably  the  chief  cause  of  this  complaint.  Insanity  is  far 
from  being  uncommon  amongst  the  natives.  The  poor  sufferers 


HEALTHIKE8S.  255 

are  generally  treated  with  great  respect,  and  were  thought  to 
be  under  the  immediate  influence  of  some  atua;  but  this 
malady  seems  to  be  far  more  prevalent  amongst  our  own 
countrymen  in  New  Zealand,  than  amongst  the  natives; 
perhaps  more  so  than  in  England.  In  some  instances,  it 
may  be  accounted  for  by  excess  in  drink,  but,  in  many  cases, 
no  cause  can  be  assigned. 

Albinos,  though  not  numerous,  are  yet  occasionally  met 
with :  they  have  generally  an  unhealthy  and  idiotic  look ; 
their  countenance  is  very  red,  and  the  hair  either  sandy, 
white,  or  bright  red,  with  blue  eyes.  Some  of  these  persons 
were  afflicted  with  insanity^  and  partly  leprous.  They  are 
supposed  to  be  the  fruit  of  illicit  intercourse  of  spirits  with 
their  females. 

Scrofulous  diseases  are  now  general  amongst  the  natives; 
originally  introduced  by  Euifopeans,  they  are  now  naturalized 
in  the  system,  and  propagated  in  their  offspring,  and  have 
become  a  chief  cause  of  mortality  amongst  them. 

The  first  time  the  influenza  made  its  appearance  in  New 
Zealand  was  in  1844,  and  so  generally  did  it  prevail,  that 
scarcely  an  individual  escaped ;  the  poor  natives  were  affected 
so  severely,  that  many  of  them  were  cut  off.  The  same 
complaint  was  raging  in  all  the  Australian  colonies,  as  well 
as  in  the  various  settlements  of  New  Zealand.  The  Austra- 
lian papers,  which  made  us  acquainted  with  this  fact,  also 
recorded  another  contemporary  circumstance,  viz.^  that  im- 
mense quantities  of  fish  were  thrown  up  on  all  their  shores ; 
this  was  likewise  the  case  in  New  Zealand,  from  which  I 
inferred  that  there  was  a  common  cause  for  the  phenomenon, 
and  this  I  attributed  to  the  escape  of  large  quantities  of 
noxious  gas  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  which  killed  the 
fish,  and  affected  men,  by  vitiating  the  ^^mosphere  of  certain 
parallels.  It  has  been  noticed  that  after  any  violent  earth- 
quakes, when  deleterious  gas  has  been  ejected,  much  sickness 
has  invariably  ensued.  In  later  years,  I  recollect  the  Bishop 
remarking,  that  he  found  the  natives  of  some  little  lone  isle 
all  prostrated  with  the  influenza,  although  no  vessel  but  his 
own  had  visited  it.     We  can,  therefore,  only  attribute  these 


266  POPULATION. 

epidemics  to  the  air,  which  being  rendered  extensively  noxious, 
has  a  corresponding  influence  on  man.  This  conclusion  is 
also  borne  out  by  native  tradition,  which  informs  us  of  various 
diseases  which  have  at  different  times  visited  the  country,  and, 
after  occasioning  fearful  mortality,  have  again  disappeared. 
Various  names  have  been  given  to  them,  and  ouq  place  where 
the  mortality  was  excessive,  bears  the  name  of  the  disease, 
to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  the  plague:  this  is  the 
Bewa-rewa,  on  the  Manawatu  river. 

But  these  visitations  have  been  rare,  and  at  long  intervals 
of  time  ; — the  diseases  we  introduce  are  permanent,  and  until 
the  native  constitution  is  assimilated  to  that  of  the  European, 
the  mortality  will  preponderate  on  their  side.  Our  countr}'- 
men,  however,  are  inclined  to  fancy  that  all  these  circumstances 
are  conspiring  to  exterminate  the  native  race,  and  that  before 
many  years  are  passed  it  will  be  extinct;  that  the  Maori 
population  is  rapidly  diminishing ;  that  disease,  induced  by 
drinking,  as  well  as  other  causes,  are  all  aiding  to  cut  off  the 
aborigines,  who  everywhere  disappear  before  the  European 
race.     America  is  a  favorite  example. 

There  is  good  reason,  however,  for  doubting  the  accuracy 
of  this  conclusion.  From  a  census  carefully  taken  in  1843, 
and  another  in  1853,  it  is  found  that  the  numbers  have  not 
decreased,  but  slightly  increased,  during  that  period. 

In  1843,  the  population  of  Waitotara  was  as  follows: — 
Males,  196;  females,  157;  total,  353. 

In  1853,  the  population  of  the  same  district  was — males, 
211  ;  females,  173 ;  total,  384. 

Increase  in  ten  years — ^males,  15;  females,  16;  total,  31. 

In  1843,  the  population  of  Whareroa  was — males,  34; 
females,  20  ;  total,  54.  In  1 854  it  was — males,  40 ;  females, 
33 ;  total,  82. 

The  results  were  similar  in  every  instance  ;  but  it  is  highly 
probable  that  another  ten  years  will  render  them  much  more 
favorable.  This  opinion  is  grounded  upon  the  alteration  for 
the  better  which  is  taking  place  in  their  food.  Ten  years  ago, 
in  my  district,  the  native  did  not  cultivate  wheat,  and  did  not 
possess  cattle ;  he  has  now  abundance  of  both  ;  in  fact,  of  the 


POPULATION.  267 

former,  more  than  he  consumes.  Hitherto  the  chief  mortality 
has  been  amongst  the  children,  who  literally  were  starved, 
having  nothing  but  the  breast  until  they  could  eat  the  potatoe, 
which  was  their  main  support.  It  was  not  to  be  wondered, 
therefore,  that  the  poor  little  creatures  should  be  cut  off; 
having  so  little  stamina,  the  influenza  became  peculiarly  fatal 
to  them. 

In  estimating  the  population,  the  grand  error  appears  to 
have  been  the  over-rating  that  of  former  days.  The  traveller 
seeing  the  remains  of  fortified  pas  on  almost  every  high  hill, 
their  parepare,  or  trenches,  still  indicating  their  existence ; 
and  finding  these  remains  exceed  the  number  of  places  now 
seen,  he  concludes  the  race  is  rapidly  diminishing,  and  this 
appears  very  natural.  I  thought  the  same,  until  I  became 
better  acquainted  with  them  and  their  ways. 

The  insecurity  of  life  in  former  days  compelled  them  to 
dwell  in  fortified  places,  and  these  were  always  situated  near 
their  cultivations.     The  native  had  no  idea  of  renewing  his 
land  when  exhausted  by  successive  cropping,  and,  in  fact,  had 
no  necessity  for  doing  so,  having  such  an  unlimited  extent  at 
his  command;  therefore  when  he  found  the  land  no  longer 
able  to  yield  him  the  usual  return,  he  abandoned  it,  and  sought 
a  fresh  locality  for  cultivation,  and  there  erected  a  new  pa  for 
his  defence.    When  I  first  came  to  Wanganui,  I  laid  down  the 
course  of  the  river,  and  marked  the  pas  on  its  banks ;  there  are 
scarcely  any  of  those  places  now  inhabited,  all  having  been 
abandoned  for  fresh  ones.     In  fact,  their  abodes  may  be  re- 
garded rather  as  fortified  camps  than  towns,  their  stay  in  one 
place  being  only  until  they  have  exhausted  the  surrounding 
country.     The  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  the  native  race 
was  never  very  numerous,  and  that   the  present  ills,  which 
threaten  its  existence,  are  more  than  counter-balanced  by  the 
advantages  of  better   food  and  clothing,  and  an  altogether 
improved  way  of  living.     As  religion,  civilized  habits,  cus- 
toms, and  peaceful  pursuits  gain  ground  on  the  savage  life 
of  former  days,  the  New  Zealand  race  may  not  only  endure 
the  evils  consequent  on  civilization,  but  even  gain  thereby. 
The  population  of  these  islands  has  been  variously  estima  ted, 

s 


2S8  FIRE-ARMS. 

some  rating  it  at  100,000,  others  at  80,000 ;  perhaps  the  latter 
may  be  the  nearest  approximation  to  the  truth. 

Relative  to  their  wars  also,  we  are  apt  to  draw  false  conclu- 
sions, and  to  imagine  that  the  contests  of  so  fierce  a  people 
must  necessarily  have  been  very  bloody ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered before  fire-arms  were  introduced,  the  battle  was  chiefiy  a 
trial  of  skill  and  strength  between  the  principal  chiefs,  and  that 
the  fall  of  one  was  often  the  signal  of  flight  for  his  people ;  the 
slaves  seldom  taking  any  very  active  part,  as  oftentimes  those 
their  masters  fought  with,  were  their  relatives.  The  battles  of 
David  and  Goliah,  Hector  and  Achilles,  were  much  the  same 
as  theirs. 

Even  when  pas  were  taken,  and  tribes  destroyed,  many 
escaped  who  joined  others,  and  thus  the  extinction  of  a  tribe 
was  in  fact  little  more  than  the  extinction  of  a  name. 

When  fire-arms  were  first  introduced,  they  certainly  occa- 
sioned for  a  time  an  increased  destruction  of  life,  and  rendered 
their  battles  far  more  bloody.  This  was  the  case  with  those 
of  Hongi  and  Raupara-ha ;  but  it  only  continued  until  they 
became  more  common,  and  equally  dispersed  amongst  them, 
and  then  they  brought  the  reign  of  the  hero,  or  demi-god,  to 
a  close,  when  the  personal  strength  and  prowess  of  the  chief 
gave  him  no  advantage  in  fight  over  the  despised  slave ;  and 
thus,  now-a-days,  the  nobility  of  the  land  are  decidedly  less 
anxious  for  war,  when  they  are  as  liable  to  be  shot  as  their 
slaves ;  they  feel  it  does  not  add  to  their  dignity,  but  may 
bring  their  dignity  to  an  igi^oble  close.  Therefore,  the  advan- 
tages of  peace  become  more  perceptible,  and  are  a  guarantee 
against  future  wars. 

The  chiefs  are  now  leading  on  their  people  to  improvement, 
using  their  influence  to  raise  funds  for  the  erection  of  mills, 
and  the  increase  of  their  property. 


A  SO,  OR  VATIVC  SrADS. 


EM10IIATI(>N. 


It  is  remarkable,  that  whilst  no  country  has  been  benefited 
more  than  Great  Britain  by  her  colonies,  no  government  has 
paid  less  attention  to  them.  They  have  founded  themselves 
by  that  inherent  energy  which  so  peculiarly  belongs  to  the 
Briton,  and  not  by  the  fostering  care  of  a  paternal  government. 
Even  to  this  day  there  is  no  general  plan  of  emigration  adopted, 
and  no  energy  displayed  in  carrying  out  the  present  ^stem. 
There  is  a  lifelesaness  and  deadness  on  the  subject,  which  is 
perfectly  amazing ;  and  when  we  look  at  the  energy  displayed 
by  the  United  States,  the  aid  she  afibrds  her  emigrants,  the 
facilities  she  gives  them  of  acquiring  a  home,  we  cannot  wonder 
at  her  obtaining  more  than  nine-tenths  of  those  who  leave 
their  native  shores :  nor  can  we  be  surprised  at  the  rapidity 
of  her  rise,  compared  with  that  of  our  colonies. 

The  conduct  of  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of  emigration 
is  perfectly  suicidal.  No  empire  possesses  such  an  extent  of 
country,  enjoying  a  mild  and  genial  climate,  which  remains 
unoccupied,  and  no  kingdom  has  such  an  overflowing  popula- 
tion to  people  it,  with  such  a  certainty  of  general  benefit  to 
the  empire ;  and  yet  it  does  not  make  any  real  cBbrt  to 
accomplish  so  desirable  a  work,  though  the  doing  so  would 
relieve  the  parent  state  from  a  surplus  amount  of  population 
which  remains  idle  at  home,  an  incubus  on  the  industry  of  the 
8  2 


260  EMIGRATION. 

country.  Emigration  being  encouraged,  the  greater  would  be 
the  revenue  of  the  country;  the  larger  the  amount  of  its 
manufactures  consumed,  and  the  certainty  of  its  prosperity 
increased.  There  ought  not,  in  the  present  day,  to  be  such  a 
building  as  a  poor-house  in  the  land,  spoiling  the  prospect  with 
its  unsightly  bulk.  If  the  amount  of  labor  be  not  greater 
than  the  demand,  where  would  then  be  the  want  of  it? 
The  unemployed  part  of  the  community,  which  rusts  in 
idleness  at  home,  is  wanted  abroad,  where  it  would  speedily 
become  useful  to  itself  and  to  others. 

The  judicious  bee-master  has  always  his  spare  hives  prepared 
to  receive  the  successive  swarms  before  they  are  thrown  off, 
well  aware  that  by  his  neglect  of  so  necessary  a  provision,  he 
would  be  the  loser,  and  that  the  amount  of  his  honey  depends 
on  the  number  of  his  hives.  Precisely  the  reverse  of  this 
has  been  the  policy  of  Great  Britain.  Year  after  year  she 
throws  off  her  swarms  without  any  provision  being  made  to 
retain  them  within  the  limits  of  the  empire.  They  have,  there- 
fore, passed  on  to  increase  the  power  and  resources  of  another 
state  ;  and  to  what  a  sad  extent  this  has  taken  place,  see  the 
astounding  population  returns  of  the  United  States.  There 
was  no  reason  why  the  myriads  and  millions  which  have  gone 
to  swell  out  those  returns  should  not  have  been  located  in 
the  wilds  of  Australia,  but  the  want  of  a  more  liberal  policy 
in  our  Government.  It  has  sought  to  drive  a  hard  bargain  with 
the  emigrant,  who,  rather  than  submit,  renounces  his  allegiance 
to  so  selfish  a  mother. 

We  do  not  invite  emigration  to  our  colonies,  and  the  present 
amazing  growth  of  that  infant  giant  nation  forms  a  striking 
proof  to  the  world  of  England*s  unmotherly  care  for  her 
children.  This  is  seen  in  the  difference  between  the  price  of 
land  in  the  Australian  Colonies  and  in  the  United  States :  the 
latter,  which  is  comparatively  near  at  hand,  merely  demands 
the  sum  of  4^.  an  acre,  and  gives  the  applicant  the  right  of 
selecting  any  unoccupied  spot,  in  any  district  he  may  please, 
and  without  delay,  for  every  place  has  its  land  office  ;  whilst 
in  those  antipodal  realms,  which  can  only  be  reached  after  a 
long  and  expensive  voyage,  the  emigrant  finds  the  minimum 


EMIGRATION.  261 

price  just  five  times  as  much  as  it  is  in  America!  with  a 
chance  of  being  twice  as  much  more^  for  when  he  has  selected 
his  land,  and  waited  three  or  four  months,  at  great  expense, 
for  the  Government  approval,  and  notice  of  sale,  the  land  is 
then  put  up  to  auction,  and  some  of  the  sharpers,  ever  present, 
manage  to  run  the  unfortunate  emigrant  up  far  beyond  the 
original  sum*  Many  have  thus  dissipated  their  means,  without 
obtaining  an  inch  of  ground. 

This  is  the  present  state  in  the  Australian  Colonies ; — little 
or  no  land  is  sold,  and  before  the  gold  fields  were  discovered, 
there  was  no  emigration  worth  speaking  of.  Up  to  1838,  land 
was  put  up  at  5«.,  and  though  it  often  realized  £1,  still  the 
chance  of  obtaining  it  for  5it.  induced  many  to  emigrate,  and 
the  amount  of  the  land  fund  was  very  considerable;  but 
immediately  a  less  liberal  policy  was  adopted,  and  £1  became 
the  minimum  price,  because  the  founders  of  Adelaide  thought 
fit  to  make  it  theirs,  and  had  influence  enough  to  carry  the 
point  in  Parliament, — no  sooner  was  this  done,  than  the  tide 
of  emigration  totally  stopped,  no  land  was  sold  at  all,  none 
could  be  found  who  would  run  the  chance  of  getting  it  for 
£1 ;  and  it  was  from  the  time  of  raising  the  minimum  price  in 
Australia,  that  the  emigration  to  America  increased  in  the 
same  ratio  that  it  decreased  there.  It  is  well  known,  that  the 
greater  part  of  New  South  Wales  is  barren,  which  makes  the 
folly  of  high  prices  more  apparent,  as  there  is  no  difference 
made  in  favor  of  poor  ground. 

But  this  is  not  all.  When  settlers  could  not  afford  to  buy 
land  at  such  a  price,  they  obtained  licences  to  squat ;  and  thus 
for  the  amount  of  about  £10  a  year,  they  acquired  an  almost 
unlimited  run  for  their  flocks ;  and  as  this  licence  became 
renewable,  it  gave  them  a  certain  hold  on  the  land,  and  kept 
them  from  becoming  proprietors ;  it  flUed  the  countr}'  with  a 
scattered  and  lawless  population,  and  impeded  its  real 
advancement. 

With  the  discovery  of  the  gold  fields,  came  again  a  flow 
of  emigration.  At  the  very  time  gold  was  discovered,  sixty 
vessels  were  reported  as  being  laid  on  for  California;  all  were 
stopped.     Multitudes  flocked  to  the  diggings;  some  acquired 


262  EMIGRATION. 

wealth,  more  disease,  and  many  a  grave.  Still,  with  all  this 
influx,  the  gold  colonies  have  not  proportionably  advanced. 
Sydney  and  Melbourne,  it  is  true,  have  become  great  cities, 
but  this  is  no  proof  of  the  general  progression  of  the  country. 
The  fresh  comers  are  gold  diggers,  but  not  ploughers.  The 
two  sea-ports  have  grown  to  an  enormous  size,  but  the  culti- 
vated lands  have  not  increased  in  the  same  degree.  A  person 
who  visits  the  colony  after  years  of  absence,  is  first  struck 
vrith  the  size  and  elegance  of  the  Sydney  houses,  the  wonderful 
way  the  city  has  extended;  but  when  he  is  fairly  out  of 
it,  he  is  also  struck  with  the  little  progress  made  in  the 
country,  and  the  sordid  selfish  spirit  of  its  inhabitants.  Gold 
has  changed  the  Australian  character — hospitality,  which  was 
the  characteristic  trait  of  the  country,  has  been  buried  in 
deep  pits,  from  whence  they  have  drawn  their  nuggets.  It 
proves  that  the  country  does  not  possess  its  cultivators  in 
proportion  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  that  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  is  sufiiciently  great  to  change  the  entire 
character  of  the  colony,  which  it  never  would  have  done  had 
emigrants  gone  on  the  land,  where  hospitable  homes  would 
have  sprung  up  in  every  direction.  The  high  price  of  land 
has  stopped  up  the  road  to  the  emigrant,  and  made  the  vast 
wilderness  of  Australia  a  Government  preserve,  as  much  as 
the  Norman  kings  did  the  New  Forest 

From  Australia,  a  ten  days*  sail  brings  the  emigrant  to  New 
Zealand.  The  climate  is  more  inviting,  the  scenery  more 
enchanting,  and  the  land  infinitely  more  fertile  as  a  whole ; 
for  whilst  Australia  has  its  rich  and  fertile  oases,  equal 
to  any  in  the  world,  they  stand  in  the  midst  of  deserts, 
vast  plains  of  iron  gravel,  and  gum  trees.  In  the  northern 
island  the  prospect  is  more  hopeful;  the  shrewd  and  dis- 
cerning spirit  of  the  late  Governor,  saw  the  extreme  absurdity 
of  keeping  up  the  high  price  of  land ;  he  tried  to  do  so,  but 
seeing  the  evil  of  it,  he  gave  way ;  he  reduced  it  to  the  fixed 
price  of  10s»  per  acre ;  and  if  the  land  should  not  be  thought 
worth  that  sum,  it  is  to  be  put  up  by  auction  at  5s., 
but  any  one,  by  putting  dovm  his  10«.,  can  be  immediately 
registered  as  the  owner  of  any  unselected  spot.     This  was 


EMIGRATION.  263 

a  step  just   taken  in   time;   had  it   been   delayed   a  little 
longer,  not  only  would  no  fresh  settlers  have  come  to  the 
shores  of  New  Zealand,  but  even  those  who  had,  would  have 
been  drawn  away  to  the  gold    diggings.      The  case  is  now 
greatly  changed  for  the  better.    A  little  stream  of  emigration 
has  begun  to  flow  in ;  it  is  at  present  only  the  trickling  of  a 
small  spring ;  but  it  bids  fan:  to  go  on  increasing,  and  will 
eventually  bring  to  the  shores  of  New  Zealand,  many  of  the 
successful  Australian  gold  diggers.  It  has  already  brought  some. 
The  first  thing  which  benefited  the  Cook's  Straits  Settle- 
ments, was   the  sale   of  land   scrip,   or  compensation  land 
orders,  given  to  the  settlers  who  came  out  under  the  New 
Zealand  Land  Company,  for  the  non-fulfilment  of  its  en- 
gagements.    Much  of  this  found  its  way  into  the  market ; 
it  gave  the  Governor  a  correct  idea  of  the  true  value   of 
land,  and  doubtless  had  something  to  do  with  his  reducing 
the  price.     These  land  orders,  sold  at  from  5s.  to  8s.  per 
acre ;    they   made  a   sensible   difference   in   the  amount   of 
population,  and  gave  the  first  impetus  to  emigration.    As 
an   example  of   this    increase   in   the   settlement  of  Wan- 
ganui,  by  the  census  of  1843,  the  European  population  was 
males  132,  females  78;    total  210.     In  1847,  the  war  and 
general  depressed  state  of  the  country,   diminished   this  to 
110.     In  1851,  when  the  sale  of  scrip  reduced  the  price  of 
land,  the  population  of  the  district  was  males  349,  females 
196;   total  545.     In  1854,  when  the  Government  sold  the 
land  for  10^.  per  acre,  males  570,  females  391 ;   total  961. 
One  of  the  chief  things  now  wanted,  is  a  surveyor's  ofilce, 
with  proper  persons   to  mark  out   the  lands  for  selection. 
At  present,  the  stranger  must  find  out  the  unlocated  spots  the 
best  way  he  can ;  many  are  told  there  is  no  land  to  select,  and 
for  want  of  a  proper  oflicer  to  point  it  out,  they  go  away 
disappointed  and  disgusted.     There  is  a  carelessness  and  a 
slovenliness  in  all  these  matters,  so  essential  to  the  well  being 
of  the  country,  which  is  anything  but  creditable  to   those 
in  power. 

From  the  northern  island,  we  pass  over  to  the  middle  one, 
where  the  Canterbury  settlement  has  been  formed,  the  last 


264  EMIGRATION. 

one  of  the  New  Zealand  Land  Company;  it  is  styled  the 
Church  of  England  colony,  as  the  Otako  one  is  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland ;  and  had  the  Company  existed  longer,  it  would 
have  had  one  for  the  Church  of  Rome ;  and  so  accommodating 
were  its  plans,  that  could  Mahometan  settlers  have  been 
found,  it  would  doubtless  have  attended  to  their  wants  as 
well.  It  need  not  be  said,  that  the  Canterbury  Settlement 
is  now  about  as  exclusively  of  the  English  as  the  other  is  of 
the  Scotch  Church ;  there  is  a  natural  repugnance  to  all 
these  exclusive  principles,  and  numbers  of  other  denomi- 
nations have  so  flowed  in  from  one  settlement  to  the  other, 
that  there  is  little  now  to  mark  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  province,  beyond,  perhaps,  a  feeble  effort  at  intoning, 
and -the  glimmering  of  a  pair  of  candles  at  noon-day  in 
some  wooden  building  called  a  church.  In  other  respects, 
it  is  but  a  name,  and  one  not  likely  to  continue.  The 
climate  of  this  part,  though  healthy,  is  naturally,  from  the 
difference  of  latitude,  far  inferior  to  that  of  the  Northern 
Island,  or  even  of  Nelson:  the  winds  are  high  and  fre- 
quent; and  as  the  province  chiefly  consists  of  fine  grassy 
plains,  unsheltered  by  wood,  they  are  the  more  severely 
felt.  It  is  the  great  sheep  feeding  province,  yet  with  a  climate 
and  scenery  little  superior  to  that  of  the  highlands  of  Scotland, 
it  is  ludicrous  to  reflect  on  the  absurd  value  which  has  been 
put  upon  the  land  there,  the  minimum  price  of  which  is 
£S  an  acre  (! !)  for  land  at  the  antipodes,  laying  in  a  state 
of  nature.  Her  Majesty  purchased  the  princely  estate  of 
Balmoral,  with  its  castle,  and  about  300  acres  of  improved 
land,  and  a  district  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  acres,*  in 
her  own  sea-girt  island,  and  within  a  single  day's  journey  from 
her  capital,  for  actually  less  than  half  the  sum  per  acre  that 
the  poor  sea-worn  emigrant  must  give  for  scrub  land  in  Can- 
terbur}',  in  the  midst  of  the  wilds  of  New  Zealand ! 

It  need  not  be  added,  very  little  of  this  valuable  settlement 
has  yet  been  disposed  of  at  that  price,  nor  is  it  likely  that 

*  The  Balmoral  Estate  is  seven  miles  by  five — ^22,400  acres ;  purchase- 
money  j^31,000y  or  less  than  28#.  per  acre. 


EHIOBATION. 


much  ever  will ;  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  the  Canterbury 
block  is  filled  with  squatters,  and  is  divided  out  into  sheep  runs. 


If  our  substantia]  yeomen  knew  that  land  was  to  be  obtained 
in  Australia  at  half  the  price  for  which  it  is  sold  in  America, 
neither  the  distance  nor  expense  of  passage  would  deter  them, 
and  soon  would  that  island  continent  be  peopled.  How  im- 
portant, how  desirable  !  We  have  now  colonized  that  country 
nearly  70  years,  and  so  far  from  having  towns  and  villages 
springing  up  in  the  interior,  we  actually  have  not  even  ex- 
plored it,  and  know  not  whether  it  be  lake  or  swamp,  sand  or 
mountain. 

In  1849,  299,498  persons  emigrated  from  Great  Britain  to 
America:  of  this  great  number  only  41,367  went  to  British 
America,  the  rest  went  to  the  United  States.  Since  that  period, 
the  annual  number  has  greatly  increased.  Could  but  one  year's 
entire  emigration  be  secured  for  Australia,  what  a  change 
would  be  effected.  Let  the  Government  adopt  a  liberal  policy, 
and  there  can  he  little  doubt  it  can  and  will  he  done;  and 
surely  this  boon  is  not  too  great  for  those  going  to  such 
remote  regions :  at  any  rate,  it  is  well  worth  the  trial,  to  retain 


266  EMIGRATION. 

for  those  mild  and  genial  climes,  the  outposts  of  the  empire, 
a  large  portion  of  that  stream  of  emigration  which  has  hitherto 
been  lost  to  the  British  dominions. 

Another  consideration  remains  to  be  noticed.  Let  a  liberal 
system  be  adopted,  and  it  would  generally  tend  to  retain  and 
increase  the  emigrant*s  attachment  to  his  native  land,  when  he 
could  feel  that  it  had  exercised  a  paternal  care  for  him  on 
leaving  its  shores,  by  thus  providing  means  for  his  future 
welfare.  Had  such  a  plan  as  this  been  sooner  adopted,  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  there  would  not  have  been 
any  of  that  dissatisfaction  and  republican  spirit  which  now, 
more  or  less,  pervades  the  British  colonies.  A  feeling  so 
unnatural,  can  only  be  traced  to  the  ruined  hopes  of  those 
whose  disappointed  expectations  have  had  their  origin  in  their 
country's  neglect  of  them.  Under  a  different  system,  the  love 
and  attachment  of  the  distant  settler,  will  still  fill  his  breast, 
and  be  transmitted  to  his  children's  children,  for  the  land  of 
his  forefathers. 

It  must  be  confessed,  that  there  is  a  party  strongly  opposed 
to  cheap  land,  from  the  fear  that  it  will  make  all  proprietors, 
and  destroy  the  laboring  class.  This  is  especially  the  fear  of 
the  gentleman  settler,  and  the  successful  speculator :  the  one 
fears  the  want  of  labor,  the  other  the  depreciation  of  his 
property. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  whether  the  price  of  land  be 
high  or  low,  all  will  be  landholders,  and  labor  will  be  high ; 
it  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable  to  hinder  this.  The  in- 
dustrious will  get  on,  and  possess  land.  Even  in  New 
Zealand,  large  land  proprietors  have  been  compelled  to  pay 
their  butcher's  and  baker's  bills  with  land.  Mr.  Peel,  the 
founder  of  the  Swan  River  settlement,  found  little  benefit 
from  his  monster  grant,  many  as  liis  acres  were ;  they  were 
soon  paid  away  for  labor,  and  his  servants  became  the  chief 
men.  In  fact,  all  those  fanciful  theories  of  transplanting 
society,  in  all  its  artificial  relations  and  integrity,  to  a  remote 
wilderness,  is  about  as  feasible  as  the  removing  of  an  aged  oak, 
with  all  its  roots  and  branches,  from  its  native  forest  to  tlie 
antipodes.     The  colony  must  pass  through  its  varied  stages 


EMIGRATION.  267 

before  such  can  be  expected.  The  gentleman  who  leaves 
England,  with  his  servants,  male  and  female,  must  not  be 
surprised  if,  before  many  years  have  gone  by,  he  should  sit  at 
the  same  table  with  them,  and  hear  his  former  footman,  now 
the  influential  member  or  superintendent  of  his  province, 
request  the  pleasure  of  taking  wine  vrith  his  lady ;  and  he  be 
obliged  to  ask  his  lady's  waiting  maid,  now  converted  into 
the  wealthy  Mrs.  so  and  so,  to  take  wine  with  him.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  what  a  difference  a  few  years  make  in  the 
relative  positions  of  colonists  f  how  many  of  the  lowly  are 
exalted,  and  some  of  the  high  brought  down.  Mind,  in  some 
respects,  has  more  play  in  the  colony,  and  more  probability  of 
getting  forward,  whatever  external  difficulties  it  may  have  to 
contend  with*  In  fact,  the  colonist  is  the  man  stripped  of  the 
garb  of  artificial  society.  Man  is  there  equal  to  his  fellow  man ; 
it  is  mind  that  draws  the  true  line  of  distinction ;  and  there  is 
a  freedom  and  charm  in  such  a  state,  which  more  than  com- 
pensates for  the  loss  of  fancied  dignity;  and  few  who  have 
lived  many  years  in  a  colony,  vnll  find  the  artificial  state  of 
society  at  home  so  congenial  to  their  feelings  as  the  freedom 
from  it  in  the  colony. 

There  is  one  great  want  felt  in  all  these  infant  settlements, 
and  that  is  of  roads  and  bridges,  and  other  public  works. 
Labor  being  high,  and  the  colonial  resources  small,  there 
is  little  chance  of  these  necessary  works  being  completed 
without  aid.  Few  colonies  can  boast  of  so  many  public 
works,  and  such  good  roads,  bridges,  hospitals,  &c.,  as  New 
South  Wales,  and  in  this  respect  there  is  a  marked  difierence 
between  that  country  and  Victoria,  where  all  these  are  wanting. 
The  former  is  indebted  for  them  to  the  convict,  who  supplied 
an  amount  of  labor  which  could  not  otherwise  have  been 
procured.  When  the  home  Government  proposed  to  continue 
sending  its  convicts,  there  was  a  general  outcry,  lest  such  an 
influx  of  crime  should  have  swamped  the  morality  and  virtue 
of  their  society,  which  would  not  perhaps  have  been  very 
difficult  to  be  done,  and  therefore  their  fears  were  just. 
Neither  was  the  plan  proposed  by  Government  one  likely  to 
answer.     It  might  have  made  the  convict  hypocritically  good, 


268  EMIORATION. 

for  a  short  timei  in  order  to  obtain  power  to  be  bad  hereafter ; 
but  it  would  not  have  effected  any  radical  change  for  the  better. 
Tet  it  is  evident  that,  under  a  modified  system,  the  convict 
might  be  sent  with  great  advantage  to  the  colony,  and  with 
little  fear'  of  moral  danger. 

If  some  were  sent  out  for  long  periods,  and  those  in 
detachments,  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  different  provinces, 
under  proper  surveillance,  there  could  be  then  no  more  reason 
to  fear  their  presence,  than  there  is  of  them  whilst  in  their 
hulks  or  jails.  If  each  colonial  town  had  its  convict  gang,  how 
many  public  works  might  be  made,  which  otherwise  cannot  be 
hoped  for.  This  is  actually  what  is  now  being  done  by  the 
Colonial  Government  with  their  own  prisoners :  they  are  thus 
employed,  and  it  is  very  proper  they  should  be,  as  the  most 
likely  way  to  reform  them.  At  any  rate,  the  view  here  taken 
may  perhaps  be  worth  further  tliought  and  consideration. 

In  whatever  part  of  the  world  we  live,  there  is  much  in  the 
present  day  to  excite  our  wonder  and  astonishment ;  the  mist 
of  ages,  which  shut  out  the  southern  hemisphere  from  our 
view,  has  well  nigh  disappeared,  and  revealed  its  remote  t:on- 
tinents  and  sunny  isles  to  our  view.  The  lands  over  which  but 
a  few  years  ago  only  the  naked  savage  roamed,  and  where  the 
cannibal  held  his  horrid  feast,  are  now  become  the  habitations 
of  civilized  man, — happy  homes  filled  with  all  the  costly 
productions  of  the  world,  have  there  been  formed.  The  fiat 
has  gone  forth, — let  them  be  peopled,  and  every  difficulty  is 
being  removed.  The  attention  is  compelled  to  be  given  to 
these  remote  regions.  Here  we  see  a  controling  Wisdom  dis- 
played which  cannot  be  denied. 

.  When  the  sterile  and  uninviting  regions  of  North  Western 
America  appeared,  less  likely  to  be  peopled  than  even  Austra- 
lia, gold,  the  loadstone  of  attraction,  was  suddenly  discovered. 
Cities,  towns,  and  villages,  sprung  up,  as  if  by  the  touch  of 
the  magician*s  wand.  It  did  not  take  ages  to  build  cities  in 
those  out-of-the-way  lands,  as  had  been  the  case  in  the  old 
world ;  it  did  not  even  require  years — mouths  sufficed. 

But  the  attractive  power  of  Califomian  gold,  threatened  to 
depopulate  even  the  little   colonies  of  Australia  and   New 


EMIGRATtON.  XbV 

Zealand.  Numbers  went,  more  were  going,  when  suddenly 
the  cry  was  heard,  there  is  gold  in  Australia,  and  that  gold  far 
more  abundant,  and  in£nitelj  more  pure  than  the  American. 
A  reaction  took  place,  the  current  of  emigration  was  changed, 
and  set  in  for  the  golden  shores  of  Australia.  Then  followed 
the  struggles  and  efforts  made  to  reduce  the  distance,  to  cut 
through  continents,  to  annihilate  space.  Steam  communica- 
tion was  established ;  and  now  we  behold  all  the  ends  of  the 
world  being  brought  together.  This  is  indeed  the  work  of 
God,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  ejes. 

But  is  the  work  finished  ?  No,  it  is  only  commenced  ;  it  is 
but  an  earnest  of  what  is  to  come.  The  world  ia  made  to  be 
inhabited  ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  crowded  cities  of  Europe 
will  no  longer  remain  satisfied  with  being  there  pent  up.  But 
now  that  channels  are  formed  to  carry  off  the  various  streams 
of  emigration,  they  will  flow  along  them  to  the  fair  realms 
which  wait  to  receive  them. 

And  yet  a  few  more  years,  and  it  requires  no  prophetic 
voice  to  declare,  that,  vast  as  Australia  is,  it  shall  be  peopled ; 
cities  and  towns  shall  arise,  containing  their  temples  of  the 
living  God !  The  New  Zealand  iales  shall  be  a  new  Great 
Britain,  and  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 


'^mi^im^'^ 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


NATIVE  CHIEFS. 


Closely  connected  with  the  subject  of  colonization,  and 
general  advancement  of  the  colony,  is  the  treatment  of  the 
native  Chiefs.  With  a  few  exceptions,  this  subject  has 
been  too  much  overlooked;  and  yet  more  than  many  are 
inclined  to  allow,  depends  on  those  who  are  still  tlic  lords 
of  the  land,  and  supreme  in  their  own  districts.  Their 
power  has  been  undervalued,  but  whenever  anything  has 
occurred  to  call  for  its  display,  the  settlers  and  Govern- 
ment have  found  that  it  is  not  imaginary.  Governor  Hub- 
son,  immediately  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  at  Waitangi, 
expressed  his  intention  of  giving  a  small   annual   pension 


NATIVB  CHIEF8.  271 

• 

to  the  head  chiefs,  and  a  suit  of  some  kind  of  uniform ; 
but  in  the  press  of  other  matters  and  declining  health,  he 
forgot  to  do  anything  for  them ;  his  successor,  Governor  Fitz* 
roy,  also  overlooked  the  subject.  Governor  Grey  found  the 
necessity  of  doing  something ;  he  gave  them  presents,  but 
not  always  with  judgment,  as  the  shrewd  discerning  natives 
themselves  could  see  through  his  object.  One  of  the  principal 
recipients  of  his  liberality  was  Rangihaeata,  who  had  constantly 
opposed  Government,  and  been  the  chief  leader  in  the  late 
war.  When  that  chief  was  induced  to  make  peace,  the 
Government  made  him  presents  at  various  times,  which  the 
natives  saw  were  intended  to  keep  that  turbulent  chief  quiet, 
whilst  comparatively  those  who  had  been  forward  in  supporting 
Government  during  the  struggle,  received  nothing,  and  even 
had  bad  motives  for  doing  so  imputed  to  them.  "  Ah !"  said 
a  chief,  "  I  see  how  it  is :  if  we  want  to  get  presents,  we  must 
not  sit  quiet,  and  give  the  Governor  no  trouble,  but  we  must 
imitate  Rangihaeata!*  and  be  tutu  (troublesome)." 

British  law  is  nominally  established  in  the  land,  but  it  is 
only  nominally,  and  likely  to  be  so  for  years,  unless  some 
measures  are  taken  to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  the  native 
chiefs.  Two  instances  which  fell  under  my  cognizance,  may  be 
selected  from  a  host  of  similar  ones,  to  prove  the  necessity  of 
something  being  done.  A  troublesome  native  had  a  quarrel 
with  one  of  the  settlers ;  there  were  faults  on  both  sides.  The 
native  considered  himself  injured;  having  built  a  house  for 
the  other,  for  which  he  had  repeatedly  asked  payment  in  vain. 
The  native  then  went  and  plundered  the  other's  house  of 
what  he  thought  was  an  equivalent  for  the  debt.  This  made 
a  great  commotion.  The  settler  called  from  one  side  of  a 
broad  river  to  the  native  on  the  other,  who,  having  been  told 
that  he  would  be  thrown  in  prison,  fired  at  the  settler,  who 
then  lodged  his  complaint  with  the  magistrate. 

A  warrant  was  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  the  offender. 
The  native  policeman  had  not  courage  to  execute  it.     The 

*  Rangihaeata,  at  the  very  time  of  his  receiving  these  presents,  was  protecting 
Pitama^  the  man  who  murdered  the  Gillespies,  a  year  or  two  before,  and  that 
man  was  living  in  the  pa  with  him. 


272  NATIVE   CHIEFS. 

magistrate,  interpreter,  and  policeman  then  went  together,  and 
when  they  were  about  a  mile  from  the  house  of  the  offender, 
the  policeman  was  sent  forward  to  take  him:  he  returned 
without  his  prisoner,  and  the  whole  party  left.  A  full  report 
was  then  forwarded  to  head  quarters.  After  several  weeks* 
delay,  and  much  ridicule  being  made  of  the  affair,  a  Land 
Commissioner,  who  had  more  influence  amongst  the  natives 
than  any  other  Government  officer,  was  sent :  he  deemed  it 
necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  head  chief  of  the  neigh- 
bouring tribe,  who,  for  the  stipulated  payment  of  fifty  pounds, 
agreed  to  go  and  take  the  culprit,  who  was  accordingly  given 
up  and  lodged  in  prison,  where  he  still  was  when  I  left  the 
country.  Now,  this  affair  could  have  only  one  effect  upon  the 
native  mind — plainly  proving  our  weakness,  and  making  them 
laugh  at  all  our  terrible  threatenings  of  vengeance  which  are 
always  so  liberally  expressed  for  every  little  misdemeanour 
they  may  be  guilty  of.  A  one-sided  view  is  too  frequently 
taken;  the  native  is  not  represented.  He  is  threatened  on 
every  trifling  occasion,  without  knowing  anything  of  the  law, 
and  his  confidence  in  our  authorities  is  destroyed.  In  the 
above  instance,  power  should  have  been  given  to  the  magistrate 
to  hold  a  court  on  the  spot ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  if  the 
case  had  been  fairly  tried,  the  native  would  have  given  an 
equitable  satisfaction,  if  proved  to  have  been  in  the  wrong. 

The  next  case  was  the  violation  of  a  settler's  infant  daughter, 
aged  about  six,  by  a  native  lad;  the  same  wavering  vacillating 
conduct  was  adopted.  The  magistrate  went  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood where  it  occurred.  The  culprit,  with  a  number 
of  his  friends,  attended ;  there  was  nearly  an  equal  number  of 
the  settlers  present.  The  magistrate  proposed  that  he  should 
go  to  the  town  to  be  tried:  his  friends  of  course  refused, 
knowing  that  there  they  should  be  unable  to  defend  him ;  and 
thus  his  visit  was  worse  than  useless ;  and  the  culprit  went 
back  with  his  friends  in  triumph,  without  anything  being 
done  to  him.  Even  without  physical  force,  moral  influence, 
properly  used,  would  have  prevailed;  as  it  was,  he  escaped 
altogether. 

These  two  instances  are  sufficient  to  show,  that  at  present 


NATIVE   CHIEFS.  273 

English  law  in  New  Zealand  is  confined  to  English  towns,  and 
that  outside  of  them,  Maori  law  still  prevails.  This  is  a  very 
great  evil,  and  productive  of  many  others ;  it  is  calculated  to 
increase  crime,  destroy  the  want  of  confidence  in  British 
justice,  and  also  diminish  that  good  feeling  which,  in  spite  of 
all  obstacles,  still  exists  between  the  two  races. 

One  of  the  great  wants  of  New  Zealand  is  roads.  They 
are  as  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  as  arteries 
are  to  the  body ;  and  until  they  are  formed,  no  great  progress 
can  be  expected  to  take  place.  Settlements  have  been  formed 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  Northern  Island,  from  the  Bay  of 
Islands,  and  even  further  north,  from  Manganui  to  Wanganui 
and  Wellington,  and  these  may  be  said  to  encircle  the  entire 
island ;  yet,  at  present  there  are  not  two  places  connected  by 
roads.  Each  located  spot  is  as  completely  isolated  as  if  cut 
off  by  a  strait,  as  many  miles  wide  as  the  places  are  distant. 
It  is  evident,  that  the  sooner  this  is  remedied,  the  sooner  will 
the  settlements  advance.  Governor  Grey  made  the  attempt 
to  connect  Auckland  with  Wellington  by  a  grand  central 
road ;  but  directly  the  chiefs  of  the  interior  heard  of  it,  they 
declared  their  determination  not  to  allow  it.  The  project 
was  given  up.  It  is  evidently  necessary  that  roads  should 
be  made,  and  equally  so  that  the  consent  of  the  Chiefs  must 
be  obtained;  and  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by  con- 
ciliatory means,  and  not  by  force ;  for  such  is  the  character 
of  the  country,  that  it  could  not  otherwise  be  done  without 
exterminating  the  entire  race,  and  even  that  could  not  be 
effected  without  there  being  first  a  great  sacrifice  of  life  on 
our  side. 

How  then  are  roads  to  be  made  ?  By  simply  doing  what 
ought  to  have  been  done  at  the  commencement  of  the  colony. 
The  head  Chiefs  must  be  acknowledged  by  the  Government  as 
ofiScers ;  they  must  be  treated  and  consulted  as  such.  Their 
native  rights,  as  British  subjects,  claim  to  be  represented  as 
much  as  our  own ;  and  until  they  are,  there  is  no  advantage 
derived  by  them  from  their  alliance  with  us.  They  will  con- 
tinue to  feel  as  Honi  Heke  did,  that  their  connection  with  us 
has  been  a  degrading  and  not  an  elevating  one.    Honor  them. 


274  NATIVE   CHIEFS. 

by  giving  them  that  place  in  the  Council  which  their  rank  and 
influence  demand,  and  they  will  be  the  firm  supporters  of 
British  power.  Naturally  they  are  attached  to  us,  and  even 
the  wars  have  not  destroyed  the  good  feeling, — ^why  should  we 
despise  them?  They  are  not  a  conquered  race.  We  first 
acknowledged  their  independence — ^we  gave  them  a  flag — ^we 
condescended  to  enter  into  treaty  with  them,  as  an  inde- 
pendent people ; — why  shoidd  we  not  treat  them  as  they 
ought  to  be,  and  give  them  the  privileges  we  promised? 
We  are  the  offenders;  we  treat  them  with  the  utmost  in- 
difference. It  is  true,  the  late  Governor  bestowed  upon 
them  presents,  and  his  doing  so  occasioned  a  general  display 
of  a  most  kindly  feeling  towards  him  in  return,  for  he  was 
the  first  who  gave  them  anything.  But,  after  all,  what  were 
the  presents  they  received,  but  so  many  sops  for  Cerberus. 
They  have  not  altered  the  native  view  of  our  policy,  however 
friendly  their  feelings  may  be  to  individuals.  Walker  Nene 
has  a  pension  of  £100  a-year  for  his  aid  in  the  late  war,  and 
he  deserved  it,  for  without  him  every  one  knows  the  British 
troops  could  not  have  penetrated  half-a-dozen  miles  inland. 
Geoi^  King,  of  Wanganui,  has  a  pension  of  £20  a-year  for 
his  aid  during  the  late  war  ;  and,  I  think,  Te  Werowero,  the 
head  Chief  of  Waikato,  may  have  something  annually ;  but  of 
this  I  am  not  sure.  Yet,  although  this  is  very  well,  these 
Chiefs  are  not  raised ;  they  have  no  voice  in  anything  relating 
to  the  welfare  of  their  race  or  country  at  large. 

Several  Chiefs,  indeed,  have  been  appointed  assessors,  and 
as  such  have  a  right  to  sit  with  the  magistrate  ;  but  even  this 
honor  is  not  intended  to  raise  them;  it  is  only  in  purely 
native  cases  they  are  entitled  to  sit,  those  they  are  enticed 
to  bring  before  the  magistrate,  in  order  to  accustom  them 
gradually  to  submit  to  British  law ;  and  to  coax  them  to  do 
so,  the  assessor  receives  lOs,  each  time  he  attends.  Even  when 
the  case  is  one  of  dispute  between  a  native  and  European,  he 
is  not  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  judicial  proceedings. 

The  general  estimation  of  them  is,  "Oh,  they  are  only 
Maori."  But  these  despised  natives  have  not  forgotten  that 
they  are  Maori  Kings,  and  dwell  in  districts  where  they  have 


KATIVE   CHIEFS.  275 

little  to  apprehend ;  that  whilst  in  our  towns  they  are  thought 
nothing  of,  in  their  own  pas  they  are  obeyed  and  respected. 
It  is  amusing  to  see  how  diflferently  our  countrymen  regard 
them,  when  passing  through  their  dominions ;  there  the  Chief, 
clad  in  his  dirty  blanket,  is  the  prince,  and  the  English  visitor 
the  pakeha  noa — the  person  of  no  consequence. 

The  country,  it  is  true,  has  got  a  popular  form  of  government 
granted  it,  where  the  councillors  are  little  less  numerous  than 
their  constituents ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  that  constitution  to 
hinder  the  native  from  being  a  representative  of  the  people  as 
well  as  his  European  neighbour.  But  has  anything  been  done 
to  make  the  native  acquainted  with  his  newly-acquired  rights  ? 
Were  any  of  the  writs  for  electing  members  sent  to  them  ? 
That  would  have  been  quite  preposterous  in  the  idea  of  the 
settlers.  Such  a  step  was  about  as  likely  to  have  been  taken, 
as  for  the  South  American  States  to  have  summoned  their 
slaves  to  their  councils,  or  the  Northern  States  to  have  sat 
with  a  man  of  color.  Nor  must  these  strictures  be  confined 
to  us  in  New  Zealand.  The  notorious  despatch  of  Earl 
Grey,  ordering  the  Governor  to  take  possession  of  the  waste 
lands  of  the  natives ;  the  quiet  way  in  which  he  sanctioned 
the  violation  of  British  faith,  pledged  in  the  Waitangi  treaty; 
plainly  proved  the  estimation  in  which  he  held  the  native 
Chiefs. 

But,  without  carrying  this  subject  further,  which  might 
easily  be  done,  let  us  consider  two  means  for  effecting  the 
permanent  benefit  and  union  of  the  two  races. 

The  first  is,  that  a  certain  number  of  the  high  Chiefs  should 
have  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly ;  the  second  is,  that  they 
should  be  acknowledged  as  the  preservers  of  peace  in  their 
several  districts ; — and  to  make  sure  of  their  ready  support  in 
all  such  cases  as  have  been  enumerated,  that  they  should  be 
salaried.  This  is  no  more  than  our  own  members  expect,  as 
they  have  all  their  expenses  paid.  Supposing  a  dozen  high 
Chiefs  received  £100  a-year  each,  and  twice  that  number  of 
secondary  Chiefs,  the  half  of  it ;  what  would  the  amount  be 
compared  with  the  benefits  acquired.  The  government  would 
have  firm  supporters  in  places  where,  at  present,  it  has  no 

t2 


276  NATIVE   CHIEFS. 

power.  The  honor  of  these  Chiefs  would  be  staked  to  main* 
tain  peace^  and  to  prove  their  power,  by  arresting  native 
offenders ;  and  it  would  be  their  evident  advantage  to  live  m 
peace.  Their  having  a  voice  in  the  Councils  of  the  nation, 
would  raise  their  importance  in  the  eyes  of  their  countrymen ; 
and  whilst  it  would  attach  them  to  the  government  in  which 
they  had  a  share,  they  would  not  feel  they  were  foreigners 
and  aliens,  but  one  with  us.  Having  no  longer,  therefore, 
any  reason  to  regard  with  fear  the  making  of  roads  through 
their  districts,  they  would  be  the  very  first  to  aid  in  their 
formation,  whilst,  at  present,  they  view  them  as  intended 
chiefly  to  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  military,  and  a  great 
means  of  destroying  their  power  and  independence.  Further, 
it  would  cause  them  really  to  try  and  learn  our  language. 

Another  great  object  also  would  thus  be  effected — the 
acquiring  land.  If  anything  be  calculated  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  general  native  feeling  at  the  present  moment,  it  is  their 
views  on  the  subject  of  land.  The  anxiety  showed  by  Govern- 
ment to  buy,  and  the  effect  that  desire  has  upon  the  native 
mind,  is  very  perceptible.  Immediately  a  district  is  sold,  they 
are  made  to  feel  that  they  have  no  longer  any  business  in  it. 
The  injudicious  way  in  which  some  settlers  have  ordered  the 
natives  from  their  doors,  has  been  very  grating  to  their  feelings. 
It  is  true,  many  are  troublesome,  very  troublesome ;  but  the 
law  of  kindness  should  never  be  forgotten  ;  the  doing  so  has 
caused  many  evils,  by  gendering  feelings  of  revenge  in  the 
native  mind.  At  the  very  time  the  natives  of  Kapiti  were 
offering  addresses  to  the  Governor,  expressing  their  sorrow  for 
his  departure,  and  their  deep  regard  for  him  personally,  the 
Governor  imprudently  broached  the  subject  of  buying  Wai- 
kanae,  when  he  was  treated  with  rudeness,  if  not  insult. 

On  a  former  occasion,  I  accompanied  the  Lieut,-Govemor 
to  Puratawa,  the  residence  of  Rangihaeata.  The  old  Chief 
seemed  much  gratified  by  the  visit,  and  evidently  regarded  it 
as  a  compliment.  He  received  us  in  the  marae,  sitting  in  front 
of  his  house,  with  his  wife,  or  wives,  and  friends  on  one  side, 
we  placed  ourselves  on  the  other,  where  new  mats  were  laid 
for  us  to  sit  on.     After  having  sat  some  time,  we  were  re- 


NATIVB   CHIEFS.  277 

quested  to  adjourn  to  a  house  at  a  little  distance,  in  which  we 
found  a  repast  laid  out  for  us  in  as  much  style  as  the  shortness 
of  the  notice  and  his  means  would  allow ;  but  when  we  returned, 
and  the  Governor  began  to  speak  of  purchasing  land,  I  strongly 
recommended  him  not,  as  the  time  was  very  inopportune,  and 
declined  to  act  as  his  interpreter ;  he  therefore,  tried  to  speak 
for  himself.  At  first,  the  old  Chief  could  not  make  out  what 
he  said,  but  when  he  did,  he  was  very  indignant,  and  put 
out  his  tongue  at  him,  which  terminated  our  visit,  and  caused 
the  Governor  to  beat  a  retreat  as  quickly  as  possible. 

But  this  last  year  witnessed  the  holding  of  a  very  important 
meeting  amongst  the  natives,  which  plainly  proved  what  their 
sentiments  were.  During  the  preceding  year,  a  deputatioa  of 
Chiefs  from  Otaki,  with  one  from  Wanganui,  went  to  Taupo, 
Rotorua,  Maketu,  and  Waikato,  with  the  ostensible  object  of 
getting  the  interior  Chiefs  of  the  island  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  Governor,  but  with  the  real  intention  of 
trying  to  form  a  confederacy  of  all  the  tribes,  and  to  appoint 
one  Chief  as  a  King  or  Governor.  The  most  influential  Chief 
who  went  was  Matene  te  Whiwhi,  of  Otaki,  the  nephew  of 
Rangihaeata,  a  very  shrewd  intelligent  man,  who  speaks  a  little 
English,  and  lives  in  the  European  style,  in  a  very  good  bouse. 
This  Chief,  although  much  noticed  by  the  Governor,  and  in 
fact  by  most  of  the  influential  settlers,  no  doubt  felt  his  poli- 
tical degredation,  as  well  as  that  of  his  countrymen.  It  was, 
therefore,  through  him  that  the  deputation  to  the  interior  arose, 
and  although  he  was  baffled  in  his  plans  by  the  jealousy  which 
each  great  Chief  entertained  of  any  native  standing  in  a  higher 
position  than  himself,  still  he  did  not  give  up  his  eflbrts.  He 
brought  a  letter  signed  by  the  Rotorua  and  Maketu  Chiefs, 
addressed  to  those  of  Wanganui  and  Ngatirua-nui,  expressive 
of  their  desire  to  live  in  peace  with  all.  The  substance  of  it 
was  as  follows : — "  We  salute  you  all :  this  is  our  word  to 
"  you, — New  Zealand  is  the  house,  the  Europeans  are  the 
"  rafters  on  one  side,  the  Maori  are  the  rafters  on  the  other 
**  side ;  God  is  the  ridge-pole,  against  which  all  lean,  and 
"  the  house  is  one."  This  was  all  Matene  succeeded  in 
obtaining  from  them ;  but  immediately  he  returned,  he  wrote 


278  PRE-EMPnON. 

a  letter  to  the  Ngatirua-nui  and  Taranaki  natives,  calling  a 
meeting  at  a  central  place,  Mana-wapou :  there  the  natives 
erected  a  very  large  building,  the  largest,  perhaps,  which  has 
ever  been  made  in  New  Zealand,  being  120  feet  in  length,  by  35 
in  width ;  this  was  named  Tai  poro  henui,  or  the  finishing  of 
matter,  and  there  all  the  head  Chiefs  from  Wellington  to  the 
Waitara,  a  distance  of  near  three  hundred  miles,  assembled. 
Five  hundred  were  present,  and  much  speaking  and  bad  spirit 
was  displayed.  The  result  of  it  was,  their  determination  to 
sell  no  more  land  to  the  Government,  and  to  hinder  any  who 
felt  disposed  from  doing  so.  It  was  not  many  months  after  this 
meeting  that  a  Chief  at  New  Plymouth  did  offer  his  land  for 
sale,  and,  when  he  went  to  mark  out  the  boundaries,  he  was 
shot  with  several  of  his  tribe,  which  led  to  reprisals,  and 
there  is  much  fear  that  the  evil  will  extend.  The  natives 
feel,  the  more  land  is  sold  the  more  are  they  weakened ;  and 
their  feeling  is  correct,  so  long  as  they  are  denied  equal 
privileges  with  ourselves.  When  they  find  the  parting  with 
their  surplus  land  is  not  also  parting  with  their  political  exis* 
tence,  then,  I  am  persuaded,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
obtaining,  at  an  equitable  rate,  that  land  which  they,  from  the 
smallness  of  their  numbers,  cannot  make  use  of. 

Another  thing  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind,  viz.,  that  aU  the 
central  tribes  are  independent ;  it  was  only  a  few  who  signed 
the  treaty,  not  more  than  a  dozen  tribes;  the  rest  are  as 
independent  now  as  they  were  before  the  landing  of  Captain 
Hobson,  for,  by  our  ovni  declaration,  they  were  proclaimed 
independent  And  now  it  becomes  us  to  show,  that  if  they  lay 
aside  that  independence,  they  really  gain  something.  Hitherto, 
our  gain  has  been  evident ;  theirs  more  doubtful.  It  is  the 
perfect  union  of  the  two,  that  will  lay  the  foundation  of  future 
greatness, — let  it  be  done  by  basing  the  fabric  on  justice. 

By  the  treaty  of  Waitangi,  the  right  of  Pre-emption  was 
granted  to  the  Crown,  which  means  that  no  land  should  be  sold 
by  the  natives  to  private  individuals,  but  only  to  the  Crown. 
It  is  a  great  question  whether  this  exclusive  privilege  has  been 
beneficial,  or,  rather,  whether  ithas  not  been  positively  injurious. 


PRE-EMPTION.  279 

The  Crown  only  purchases  a  district  at  a  tirne^  and  the 
natives,  when  they  have  sold  and  vacated  that  district,  not 
only  feel  it  more,  but  also,  that  with  the  land,  their  fnanOf 
or  power,  has  gone  likewise ;  few,  therefore,  can  now  be 
induced  to  part  with  land.  This  ft  the  universal  complaint 
at  Auckland,  at  New  Plymouth,  at  Kapiti,  in  fact,  everywhere, 
and  as  the  cattle  and  goods  of  the  natives  increase,  and  they 
are  doing  so  rapidly,  it  is  most  probable  the  difficulty  of  pur- 
chasing land  will  increase  also.  On  these  accounts,  important 
as  it  is  that  settlers  should  be  obtained  for  New  Zealand, 
it  is  still  more  so,  that  lands  should  be  procured  for  them 
beforehand,  and  it  is  evident  there  will  be  much  difficulty  in 
doing  so  by  the  present  system.  Further,  should  the  natives 
persist  in  their  present  determination  of  not  selling,  they 
cannot  be  compelled  to  do  so;  they  are  their  own  masters, 
and  we  have  guaranteed  to  them  all  the  rights  of  British  sub- 
jects. What  then  can  be  done  ?  The  remedy  is  simply  to  do 
again  what  Governor  Fitzroy  did,  and  for  which  he  got  so 
much  blame.  The  Penny  an  Acre  Act,  as  it  was  termed,  I  have 
always  regarded  as  one  of  the  wisest  measures  which  has 
been  adopted,  either  before  or  since.  The  meaning  of  this 
Act  requires  explanation.  It  is  simply  this :  the  Governor 
waved  the  right  of  pre-emption,  and  allowed  individuals  to 
purchase  from  the  native  proprietor,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  Government,  and  a  fixed  charge  per  acre.  The  knowledge 
of  this  immediately  caused  the  tide  of  emigration  to  flow  into 
the  district ;  there  never  had  been  such  an  influx  before,  and 
it  IS  doubtful  if  it  has  had  since,  imtil,  at  least,  the  price  of 
land  was  reduced,  in  the  last  year  of  the  Governor's  stay.  The 
advantage  of  this  measure  was,  that  an  individual  did  not  make 
a  large  purchase ;  he  bought  a  piece  of  land,  which  a  single 
native  might  have  for  sale,  and  in  doing  so  he  still  left  the 
surrounding  lands  in  the  hands  of  their  proprietors  ;  there  was 
no  expelling  of  them  from  an  entire  district ;  they  did  not  feel 
they  were  parting  with  their  own  power  as  well  as  the  land, 
but  rather  regarded  the  individual  as  one  gained  by  their  tribe, 
and,  by  way  of  distinction,  called  him  their  *'pakeha,**  or  Euro- 
pean.  Were  this  plan  of  Governor  Fitzroy 's  to  be  re-adopted 


280 


FBE-BHFTIOir. 


with  any  modification  which  might  be  deemed  proper,  such  as 
restnctiDg  the  purchaser  to  a  certain  quantity,  and  reijuiiing 
him,  under  certain  penaldes,  to  reside,  and  restniiniDg  liim 
from  selling  before  a  fixed  term  of  years,  every  object  would 
be  gained  which  the  Govefament  could  want.  Settlers  would 
be  secured — a  certain  revenue  would  be  derived.  It  would 
resemble  the  very  steps  the  Grovernment  is  adopting  with  the 
gold  diggers,  the  waving  the  Crown's  right  for  a  certain  fixed 
compensation.  I  am  persuaded,  that  had  Governor  Fitzroy's 
Act  been  continued.  New  Zealand  would  have  had  treble  the 
European  population  it  now  has,  and  that  population  would 
have  been  at  this  moment  cultivating  those  lands  which  are 
now  laying  unoccupied  and  waste. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

SAMUEL  MAB8DEK. 

Of  all  the  persons  connected  with  the  civilization  of  New 
Zealand,  no  one  stands  higher  than  Samuel  Marsden.  Cook 
took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  his  Sovereign, 
but  it  was  Marsden  who  first  unfurled  the  banner  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  and  claimed  those  fair  realms,  then  laid  in 
heathen  darkness,  on  behalf  of  the  King  of  kings.  It  was 
Marsden  who  first  introduced  their  savage  inhabitants  to 
Christian  philanthropy,  and  euliated  the  sympathy  of  the 
Church  in  their  behalf;  and  having  obtained  aid,  he  brought 
it  himself,  and  was  the  first  to  proclaim  the  message  of  mercy 
on  their  shores.  He  was  the  honored  instrument  who  laid  the 
first  stone  of  the  Church,  and  thus  commenced  a  work  which 


282  SAMUEL  MABSDEN. 

has  increased  in  magnitude  with  increasing  years,  and  has  now 
added  those  wide-spread  realms  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord 
our  righteousness. 

The  venerated  name  of  Marsden  demands^  therefore,  a  brief 
summary  of  his  life,  as  it  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
history  of  New  Zealand^  and  its  emancipation  from  that  savage 
state  in  which  he  first  found  it.* 

Mr.  Marsden  was  bom  at  a  village  called  Horseforth,  be- 
tween Bradford  and  Leeds,  in  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire, 
where  many  of  his  relatives  still  live.  He  was  originally  a 
blacksmith,  but  his  mind  being  fixed  on  the  ministry,  he 
used  every  opportunity  of  preparing  himself  for  it.  An 
anecdote  is  related  of  him,  that  even  whilst  employed  at  his 
trade,  and  blowing  the  bellows  with  one  hand,  with  a  bit  of 
chalk  in  the  other,  he  wrote  out  the  declensions  on  the  fire- 
board  of  his  forge.  Mr.  Stone,f  the  clergyman  of  the  parish, 
perceiving  his  serious  turn  of  mind,  kindly  took  him  to  live 
with  him,  and  brought  him  up  for  the  ministry. 

After  the  independence  of  our  North  American  colonies,  it 
became  necessary  to  found  a  fresh  penal  settlement,  and  New 
South  Wales  was  selected.  When  the  first  fieet  was  on  the 
point  of  sailing  to  commence  the  colony,  the  minister  of  the 
day  was  waited  upon  by  two  philanthropic  men,  who  pointed 
out  the  duty  of  sending  the  means  of  grace  also.  He  laughed 
at  the  idea  of  any  benefit  being  derived  by  such  a  set  of 
abandoned  wretches,  and  enquired  what  clergyman  would  be 
persuaded  to  take  such  a  duty  upon  him.  They  asked  in 
reply  whether  he  would  furnish  means,  if  they  could  provide 
the  man.  This  he  promised  to  do.  They  lost  no  time  in 
introducing  the  Rev.  R.  Johnson,  a  worthy  good  man,  but 
quite  unequal  to  the  work  of  stemming  the  torrent  of  iniquity 
which  then  deluged  society ;  and  when  that  gentleman,  dis* 
couraged  by  the  fearful  state  of  depravity  which  prevailed  in 
the  infant  colony,  after  a  brief  sojourn  there,  returned,  having 

*  Thero  is  every  reason  to  belieye,  that  it  was  the  last  sermon  preached  by 
Mr.  Marsden,  at  Cowes,  Isle  of  Wight,  (where  he  touched  before  he  sailed 
for  Australia,)  which  was  the  means  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  the  dairy- 
man's daughter. 

t  Incumbent  of  Ouiseley,  in  the  parish  of  Rawden. 


SAMUEL  MABSDSN.  283 

first  published  a  faithful  and  solemn  address  to  those  he  had 
so  vainly  labored  amongst,  the  minister  exultingly  said,  Did  I 
not  tell  you  how  it  would  be  ?  They,  however,  demanded 
that  another  trial  should  be  made,  which  being  assented  to, 
Mr.  Marsden  was  next  selected,  and  sent  out ;  his  commission 
was  dated  January  1st,  1793.  Possessing  a  great  degree  of 
firmness  and  determination,  combined  with  plain  good  sense, 
and  fervent  piety,  he  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  arduous 
duty  he  had  accepted.  To  strangers,  his  looks  and  manners 
were  not  prepossessing;  there  was  an  unpleasant  degree  of 
sternness  in  his  countenance ;  but  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  his  position  doubtless  impressed  his  unflinching  firmness  on 
his  face. 

Few  can  form  a  just  idea  of  the  fearful  state  of  depravity 
which  prevailed  amongst  all  ranks  in  the  early  days  of  the 
colony.  Two  instances  may  here  be  appropriately  given,  as 
showing  the  necessity  of  severe  firmness  in  the  minister,  and 
as  a  key  to  the  cause  of  the  bitter  enmity  he  experienced  from 
those  in  power.  At  the  commencement  of  the  colony,  the 
sale  of  all  spirits  was  monopolized  by  the  ofiicers,  and  it  was 
the  endeavouring  to  do  away  with  this  practice,  which  after- 
wards caused  the  deposition  of  Governor  Bligh.  When  vessels 
vnth  female  convicts  arrived,  they  likewise  took  in  turns  the 
selection  of  the  fairest  of  them  as  companions,*  and  not  only 
was  this  generally  done,  but  it  was  winked  at  by  the  highest 
authorities,  and  these  females  as  well  as  their  partners  were 
actually  admitted  to  the  Government  House.  Mr.  Marsden 
very  properly  would  not  sit  at  table  with  them,  or  sanction 
their  conduct  by  his  presence,  and  thus,  by  declining  the 
invitations  on  such  occasions,  and  plainly  stating  his  reason 
for  doing  so,  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  Governor  and  his 
ofiicers  was  excited  against  him ;  every  effort  was  made  to 
effect  his  ruin ;   public  records  were  falsified,  f   and   such 

*  One  individual,  Captain  H y,  thus  went  on  board  and  took  a  fancy  to 

Mrs.  C 8,  a  young  woman  who  was  coming  out  to  join  her  husband,  a 

convict ;  Captain  H.  went  to  him,  and  bought  his  wife  of  him  for  a  chest  of  tea 
and  some  tobacco;  he  lived  with  her  many  years,  and  lefl  a  large  family  by  her. 

t  See  published  account  of  Inquiry  relative  to  the  Rev.  S.  MandenCi  having 
ordered  Convicts  to  be  flogged. 


284  SAMUEL  MARSDEK. 

representations  sent  home,  as  called  for  a  searching  inquiry 

into  the  chaplain's  conduct,  the  result  of  which  was,  that  the 

Governor  received  a  command  to  make  known  to  the  Rev. 

Gentleman,  not  only  the  fact  of  his  being  honorably  acquitted, 

but  that  the  home  Government,  in  approval  of  his  conduct,  had 

added  £100  a-year  to  his  salary,  and  ordered  a  suitable  residence 

to  be  erected  for  him.  Another  anecdote  will  also  show  the  early 

state  of  the  colony.    Mr.  Marsden  had  repeatedly  complained 

to  the  Governor  of  the  dangerous  state  the  place  was  in  where 

they  assembled  for  divine  worship ;  the  Governor  continued 

to  take  no  notice  of  his  representations.    At  last,  one  Sabbath, 

in  the  midst  of  the  service,  a  master  mason,  with  a  number  of 

convict  assistants,  bearing  ladders,  tools,  and  hods  of  mortar, 

came  with  great  clatter  into  the  midst  of  the  congregation. 

Mr.  Marsden  demanded  the  cause  of  the  interruption ;  the 

man  told  him  that  the  Governor  said,  the  church  was  in  such 

a  dangerous  state,  that  they  were  to  lose  no  time,  but  go 

immediately  and  commence  the  repairs.     Mr.  Marsden  told 

them,  at  any  rate,  to  stay  until  the  service  was  over.  They  said, 

they  could  not,  the  commands  were  imperative  ;  then,  said  he 

to  his  congregation,  as  we  cannot  worship  God  here,  let  us  go 

where  we  can.     He  immediately  arose,  still  habited  in  his 

surplice,  and  followed  by  his  congregation,  he  went  to  the 

Court-house,  and  there  concluded  the  service. 

Such  was  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  home 
Government,  that  Governor  Macquarie  was  ordered  to  under- 
take no  measure  of  importance  without  first  consulting  the 
senior  Chaplain,  and  one  of  the  first  measures  of  that  gentle- 
man was  pressing  those  who  had  been  living  in  a  state  of  con- 
cubinage, to  marry,  many  of  them  having  large  families,  making 
their  visits  at  Government  House  contingent  on  their  doing 
so.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  and  some  of  the  chief  families 
in  the  colonies  have  thus  originated. 

On  Mr.  Marsden*s  arrival,  he  found  Governor  Phillip 
had  left,  after  having  founded  the  colony,  and  Governor 
Grose  then  occupying  his  post,  who  was  succeeded  in  1795 
by  Captain  Hunter,  who,  in  1800,  was  replaced  by  Cap- 
tain King.     It  was   this  Governor  who  obtained  two  New 


SAMUEL  MABSDEN.  285 

Zealand  natives,  Toki  and  Huru,  from  the  North  Cape,  as 
teachers  to  show  the  prisoners  at  Norfolk  Island  the  way  of 
workmg  flax  (phormum  tenaxj,  which  is  indigenous  there,  as 
well  as  in  New  Zealand.  The  Governor  landed  at  the  North 
Cape,  and  gave  many  valuable  presents  to  the  natives:  he 
introduced  the  pig,  which  they  had  not  previously  seen  ;  he 
gave  them  maize  and  potatoes,  so  that  when  those  natives 
returned  with  all  their  presents,  they  raised  a  very  favorable 
opinion  of  the  Europeans,  and  the  memory  of ;  Captain  King 
is  preserved  even  to  this  day.  But  a  more  important  result  of 
this  visit  of  Toki  and  Hum  to  Norfolk  Island  was  their  be- 
coming acquainted  with  Mr.  Marsden.  So  much  was  he 
struck  with  their  intelligence  and  manners,  that  from  that  time 
he  determined  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  raise  their  race  from 
its  then  debased  state.  In  1807,  he  accompanied  Governor 
King  to  England,  and  it  was  then  that  he  brought  New  Zea- 
land to  the  notice  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  His 
application  was  favorably  received,  and  when  he  returned,  in 
1810,  he  brought  Messrs.  Hall  and  King  with  him  as  lay 
Missionaries.  They  were  afterwards  joined  by  Mr.  Kendal 
and  his  family.  The  party,  however,  was  hindered  from  pro- 
ceeding to  its  destination  for  several  years,  on  account  of  the 
sad  massacre  of  the  Boyd,  which  cast  a  great  damp  on  the 
colony,  as  many  of  the  children  of  the  principal  people  were 
in  it,  on  their  way  to  England  for  education.  It  is  one  of  the 
many  sad  warnings  given,  to  treat  natives  with  kindness,  how- 
ever low  they  may  be  considered  in  the  scale  of  civilization ;  the 
neglecting  this  has  been  the  destruction  of  many,  and  too 
frequently  the  innocent  have  suffered  for  the  guilty.  Several 
of  the  principal  Chiefs,  however,  in  the  meantime,  visited  the 
colony,  and  found  a  home  at  Mr.  Marsden*s  house. 

In  1814,  Mr.  Marsden  purchased  the  brig  Active^  a  vessel 
of  100  tons,  and  November  19th  he  went  on  board  on  his  first 
visit  to  New  Zealand,  to  locate  the  laborers  he  had  procured 
for  this  new  mission  field.  On  the  15th  December,  they 
sighted  the  Three  Kings,  and  on  the  16th  they  opened  a 
friendly  communication  with  the  natives  of  the  North  Cape. 
He  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Nicholas,  who  afterwards  pub- 


286  SAMUSL   MARSDBN. 

lished  an  account  of  the  voyage:  and  by  Messrs.  King, 
Kendall,  and  Hall,  with  their  wives  and  five  children,  two 
sawyers,  and  a  smith ;  a  horse,  a  bull,  two  cows,  a  few  sheep, 
and  poultry  of  different  kinds,  were  also  taken.  They  first 
anchored  at  Matouri  Bay,  about  twenty  miles  to  the  north  of 
the  Bay  of  Islands. 

Mr.  Marsden  landed  with  his  party  at  Waiawa,  but  he  and 
Mr.  Nicholas  only  stayed  on  shore  for  the  night.  There  he  met 
Tara,  better  known  by  the  name  George,  the  Chief  who  cut 
ofi*  the  Boyd,  and  he  slept  by  his  side,  in  full  confidence  that  he 
might  do  so  with  perfect  safety.  This  fearless  conduct  shows 
his  natural  strength  of  mind  most  forcibly,  when  he  could  thus, 
without  protection,  entrust  his  life  the  very  first  night  he  slept 
on  shore  alone  with  that  savage  and  cannibal  Chieftain.  It  is 
interesting  to  know,  that  the  very  first  work  of  this  servant  of 
Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  was  to  make  peace  between  the 
Bay  of  Islands  and  Wangaroa  natives,  and  to  put  an  end  to  the 
deadly  feud  which  had  so  long  existed  between  them.  Thus 
the  foundation  of  the  Gospel  in  New  Zealand  was  laid  in  peace 
— a  happy  omen  for  its  future  success.  The  description  which 
Mr.  Marsden  himself  gave  of  that  memorable  night,  is  so 
graphic,  that  it  must  be  given  in  his  own  words :  — "  As  the 
evening  advanced,  the  people  began  to  retire  to  rest  in  differ- 
ent groups.  About  eleven  o'clock,  Mr.  Nicholas  and  I  wrapped 
ourselves  up  in  our  great  coats,  and  prepared  for  rest  also. 
George  directed  me  to  lie  by  his  side.  His  wife  and  child  lay 
on  the  right  hand,  and  Mr.  Nicholas  close  by.  The  night  was 
clear,  the  stars  shone  bright,  and  the  sea  in  our  front  was 
smooth.  Around  us  were  numerous  spears,  stuck  upright  in 
the  ground,  and  groups  of  natives  lying  in  all  directions,  like  a 
flock  of  sheep  upon  the  grass,  as  there  were  neither  tents  nor 
huts  to  cover  them.  I  viewed  our  present  situation  with 
sensations  and  feelings  that  I  cannot  express — surrounded  by 
cannibals,  who  had  massacred  and  devoured  our  countrymen, 
I  wondered  much  at  the  mysteries  of  Providence,  and  how 
these  things  could  be!  Never  did  I  behold  the  blessed  ad- 
vantage of  civilization  in  a  more  grateful  light  than  now.  I 
did  not  sleep  much  during  the  night.     My  mind  was  too 


SAMUEL   MARSDEN.  287 

seriously  occupied  by  the  present  scene,  and  the  new  and 
strange  ideas  which  it  natually  excited. 

^' About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  rose  and  walked 
about  the  camp,  surveying  the  different  groups  of  natives. 
Some  of  them  put  out  their  heads  from  under  the  top  of  their 
kakahu^s  (a  rough  shaggy  mat,  which  is  like  a  bee-hive),  and 
spoke  to  me.  When  the  morning  light  returned,  we  beheld 
men,  women,  and  children  asleep  in  all  directions,  like  the 
beasts  of  the  field.*' 

His  confidence  and  efforts  to  obtain  peace  were  rewarded. 
In  the  morning  Ruatara,  Hongi,  and  Korokoro  came  and 
hungied,  i.e.  rubbed  noses,  the  Maori  way  of  salutation,  with 
the  Wangaroa  Chief,  in  token  of  future  peace  and  amity. 

From  Matouri,  they  went  to  the  Bay  of  Islands,  near  the 
entrance  of  which  Ruatara  lived,  at  a  place  called  Rangihu, 
and  there  the  first  missionary  station  was  placed,  and  there 
also  the  first  Sabbath  was  kept,  and  that  day  was  indeed  a  high 
day,  for  it  was  Christmas-day,  1814.  Ruatara  appears  to  have 
done  everything  in  his  power  to  do  honor  to  the  occasion  :  he 
enclosed  about  half-an-acre  of  land  with  a  fence,  and  hoisted 
the  British  flag,  which,  though  not  bearing  the  dove  as  the 
emblem  of  peace  on  its  waving  folds,  has  still  floated  as  the 
defender  of  those  who  bore  the  message  of  peace,  and  imparted 
confidence  that,  however  remote  the  spot,  wherever  it  was 
hoisted,  they  were  safe. 

Mr.  Marsden  remarked, "  On  Sunday  morning,  when  I  was  on 
deck,  I  saw  the  English  fiag  flying,  which  was  a  pleasing  sight 
in  New  Zealand.  I  considered  it  was  the  signal  and  dawn  of 
civilization,  liberty,  and  religion,  in  that  dark  and  benighted 
land.  I  never  viewed  the  British  colors  with  more  gratification, 
and  I  flattered  myself  they  would  never  be  removed  till  the 
natives  of  the  island  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  British  subjects." 
These  words  were  prophetic. 

Ruatara  passed  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  preparing  for  the 
Sabbath :  he  erected  a  pulpit  and  reading-desk  in  the  centre  of  the 
enclosed  space ;  these  he  made  out  of  an  old  canoe,  and  covered 
with  cloth,  given  him  in  Sydney ;  he  formed  seats  in  a  similar 
way  for  the  European  portion  of  the  congregation.    Then, 


288  SAMUEL   MABSDEN. 

having  made  all  his  arrangements  he  and  his  two  companions, 
dressed  in  regimentals  given  them  by  the  Governor,  with 
swords  by  their  sides,  and  switches  in  their  hands,  marshalled 
their  people  on  either  side  of  Mr.  Marsden,  who  had  the 
honor  of  there  first  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  the  lesson  for 
the  day  furnished  a  most  appropriate  text — "  Behold,  I  bring 
you  glad  tidings  of  great  joy."  (Luke  ii.,  10).  He  told  Rua- 
tara  that  he  must  interpret  the  sermon  to  his  people ;  he  re- 
plied, bye  and  bye,  not  understand  it  yet.  Thus  was  com- 
menced the  preaching  of  that  Word  which,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  was  to  make  such  a 
wonderful  change  in  the  land,  and,  like  the  grain  of  mustard 
seed,  was  to  grow  and  become  a  great  tree.  Various  were 
the  difficulties  it  had  to  contend  with — times  of  prosperity  and 
adversity.  It  passed  through  every  phase,  overcame  every 
obstacle,  found  its  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  ;  it  opened 
their  eyes  to  discern  the  fallacies  and  enormities  they  had  been 
guilty  of,  and  it  constrained  them  to  abandon  them. 

What  caste  is  in  India,  the  tapu  was  in  New  Zealand ;  it 
held  unlimited  sway  over  their  minds,  and  compelled  obedience 
to  its  requirements.  But  it  could  not  exist  with  Christianity. 
That  word  declares,  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters."  No 
sooner  had  the  Gospel  obtained  root  in  the  land,  than  the 
power  of  the  tapu  was  destroyed  ;  the  native  mind  became  as 
completely  emancipated  from  its  thraldom  as  if  it  never  had 
existence. 

Ruatara  soon  after  died  at  Rangihu,  to  Mr.  Marsden*s  great 
sorrow ;  he  regarded  his  removal  as  a  most  mysterious  act  of 
Providence,  as  he  appeared  to  be  the  instrument  raised  up  for 
enabling  him  to  introduce  the  Gospel.  But  the  Lord  clearly 
pointed  out  in  his  death,  that  it  was  not  on  an  arm  of  flesh  he 
was  to  lean,  but  on  that  Word  which  said,  "  I  will  be  exalted 
amongst  the  heathen."  Ruatara  charged  his  children  and 
people,  on  his  death-bed,  to  protect  the  Missionaries,  and 
made  each  of  them  promise  to  be  tlieir  defenders.  The 
guardians  of  his  children  took  this  duty  upon  themselves,  and 
answered  for  them,  "  We  will  protect  our  teachers." 

Mr.  King,  one  of  the  original  teachers  left  by  Mr.  Marsden, 


SAMUEL  MARSDEX.  289 

died  in  1854,  having  thus  been  nearly  forty  years  at  his  post. 
What  changes  has  this  good  old  man  seen ;  what  difficulties 
has  he  had  to  contend  with!  He  removed  from  Rangihu 
about  a  mile  further  up  the  bay,  to  a  more  suitable  locality, 
at  Tepuna,  and  there  this  faithful  old  labourer  in  the  Lord's 
vineyard  lived  and  died. 

On  the  Monday  morning,  he  landed  the  teachers, — the 
natives  had  selected  a  spot,  and  on  this  they  were  located. 
Mr.  Marsden,  however,  remained  with  them  until  the  end  of 
February,  to  see  them  properly  settled,  and  then  he  returned 
to  Sydney. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  on  Mr.  Marsden's  ministry 
in  New  South  Wales,  but  merely  to  regard  him  as  con- 
nected with  the  New  Zealand  Miission ;  otherwise  it  would 
enlarge  this  sketch  beyond  its  proper  limits ;  but  even  when 
at  home,  New  Zealand  was  not  forgotten.  An  important 
service  was  rendered  to  the  cause  by  his  establishing  an  indus- 
trial school  for  New  Zealand.  In  the  interval  between  his 
first  and  second  visit,  he  had  as  many  as  twenty-four  natives 
under  his  care,  and  he  reported  that  they  had  all  conducted 
themselves  to  his  entire  satisfaction. 

It  is  pleasing  to  see  how  firm  this  good  man's  faith  was,  that 
the  time  had  come,  when  heathen  darkness  was  to  give  way  to 
Christian  light.  "  I  believe,"  said  he,  "  that  the  time  is  now 
come  for  these  nations  to  be  called  into  the  outward  church  at 
least.  The  way  is  clear ;  Divine  goodness  will  provide  the 
means  for  their  instruction.  I  admit  that  many  difficulties  will 
be  met  with  on  all  untried  ground ;  and  that  the  wisest  meu 
will  sometimes  mistake,  in  their  view  of  accomplishing  their 
objects,  with  respect  to  a  nation  which  has  had  no  intercourse 
with  the  civilized  world.  Yet  these  difficulties  will  be  over- 
come, under  the  blessing  of  God,  by  constant  perseverance  ; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  this  will  be  the  case  in  the  pre- 
sent instance,  with  regard  to  New  Zealand.  Time  will  make 
this  matter  more  easy.  The  work  is  now  begun — the  founda- 
tion* is  now  laid — and  I  hope  we  shall  soon  see  the  structure 
arise." 

On  the  lS6th  July,  1819,  Mr.  Marsden  again  sailed  for  New 

u 


290  SAMUEL   MAR8DEN. 

Zealand.  He  took  with  him  several  fresh  hands  to  strengthen 
the  work  there ;  he  located  them  at  the  Ken  Keri.  After 
settling  the  Mission  to  the  best  of  his  power,  he  returned  to 
Sydney.  At  the  request  of  the  Governor,  Mr.  Marsden  went 
again  to  New  Zealand  in  H.  M.  ship  Caromandel,  February 
20th,  1820,  only  a  few  months  after  his  return.  He  there 
landed,  and,  under  the  guidance  of  a  Chief,  Tamorangi,  he 
took  what  was  then  a  most  wonderful  journey  overland  to  the 
Bay  of  Islands.  In  several  parts  they  were  in  open  war,  and 
the  Chief,  who  afterwards  became  a  believer,  often  expressed 
his  astonishment  that  he  had  ever  dared  to  undertake  such  a 
journey.  When  Mr.  Marsden  reached  the  Keri  Keri,  his  clothes 
were  in  rags,  covered  with  mud  and  red  ochre,  from  his  near  con- 
tact with  the  natives,  who  were  then  constantly  smeared  with  it 
and  shark's  oil ;  and  with  an  old  dirty  nightcap  on  his  head,  he 
made  his  appearance  before  the  astonished  Missionaries.  He 
arrived  at  a  most  seasonable  time,  for  they  were  on  the  point 
of  breaking  up  the  mission,  and  leaving  in  the  Dromedary^ 
Captain  Skinner,  which  was  then  in  the  bay.  Disheartened 
by  the  opposition  of  the  natives,  and  the  horrid  scenes  they 
witnessed,  they  despaired  of  success  ;  when  the  father  of  the 
mission  stood  before  the  afirighted  laborers.  It  was  only  a  few 
months  before  that  he  had  taken  leave  of  them  on  his  way 
back  to  Sydney.  We  can  only  regard  the  request  of  Go- 
vernment for  him  to  go  in  the  Coromandel  as  the  evident 
work  of  God.  Mr.  Marsden  alternately  reasoned  with  and 
rebuked  the  Missionaries,  and  said,  that  though  the  way 
appeared  dark,  his  faith  told  him  that  there  would  never  be 
wanting  a  seed  to  serve  God  in  this  land,  though  they  all 
might  abandon  it.  He  felt  assured  the  work  would  go  on« 
His  firmness  strengthened  their  faith,  and  increased  their 
courage ;  they  resolved  to  stay — they  stood  their  ground. 
The  Lord  soon  raised  up  friends  ;  the  dark  clouds  dispersed, 
and  the  Mission  began  to  gain  a  firmer  hold  on  the  native 
mind.*  The  chief  mistake  Mr.  Marsden  committed  in  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  Mission,  was  in  conunencing  it  as  a  lay 
establishment,  rather  for  secular  instruction  than  spiritual, 
*  These  particulars  I  receired  from  old  Mr.  King. 


SAMUEL   liARSDBN.  291 

laboring  under  the  common  mistake  then  prevalenti  that  it 
was  useless  to  attempt  inculcating  the  sublime  truths  of 
Christianity  upon  the  savage  mind,  before  it  has  been  prepared 
by  cultivation  for  its  reception ;  and  thus  it  is  not  surprising 
that  no  great  impression  was  made  upon  it,  until  the 
arrival  of  ordained  Missionariesi  who  commenced  a  purely 
spiritual  instruction:  and  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  soon 
after  their  arrival  the  work  was  blessed,  and  became  signally 
visible.  The  first  convert  was  made  in  1825 ;  he  was  an  old 
Chief.  It  was  upon  his  long-benighted  mind  that  the  true 
light  first  beamed  to  cheer  his  closing  days,  and  as  a  bright 
lamp  to  guide  him  through  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death 
into  the  realms  of  eternal  life  and  light.  He  was  baptized  by 
the  name  of  Christian  Rangi. 

Mr.  Marsden  left  Sydney  on  his  fourth  visit  to  New  Zea- 
land July  23rd,  1823,  in  the  Brompton.  He  found  the  Mission 
prospering,  schools  established,  his  opinion  of  the  importance 
of  which  is  seen  in  his  report :  the  true  foundation  must  be 
laid  in  the  education  of  the  rising  generation.  It  was  during 
this  visit  that  the  Paihia  station  was  formed,  and  the  two  Mr. 
Williams  located  there.  His  original  intention  was  to  have 
placed  them  at  Wangaroa,  but  the  Wesleyans  having  gone 
there,  he  very  properly  selected  another  spot,  and  that  was 
Paihia.  The  Brampton,  in  which  he  was  to  return,  was  unfor- 
tunately wrecked  by  missing  stays,  and  going  on  the  reef, 
which  now  bears  its  name.  It  sailed  on  the  Sabbath,  which 
both  surprised  and  alarmed  several  Chiefs,  who  were  on  board. 
They  said,  you  have  taught  us  not  to  sail  our  canoes  on  the 
sacred  day.  Your  God  has  ordered  the  ship  to  rest,  then  let 
it  rest.  If  your  God  be  like  the  New  Zealand  god,  he  will  kill 
the  ship ;  if  your  ship  should  die,  you  must  not  blame  our 
god  for  killing  it.  Alas,  how  often  have  we  put  stumbling 
blocks  in  the  way  of  the  heathen.  Did  not  God  vindicate  his 
violated  law  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  by  the  wreck  of  the 
Brompton  ?♦     One  of  the  passengers,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leigh,  a 

*  The  brig  Mercury  was  all  but  taken  in  Wangaroa  harbour  in  1825,  for 
trading  on  the  Sabbath.  Tepuhi  inquired  of  the  MissionarieSy  Do  you  know 
this  tribe  ?    They  said.  No.    Is  not  this  their  sacred  day  ?  I  know  it  is  yours. 

u  2 


292  SAMUEL  MARSDEN. 

Wesleyan  Missionary,  states :  **  The  shipwreck  we  have  expe- 
rienced will,  I  have  no  doubt,  prove  favorable  to  the  reputation 
of  the  New  Zealanders.  For  several  days  we  were  in  their 
power,  and  they  might  have  taken  all  that  we  had  with  the 
greatest  ease ;  but,  instead  of  oppressing  and  robbing  us,  they 
actually  sympathized  with  us  in  all  our  trials  and  afflictions. 
Mr.  Marsden,  myself,  and  Mrs.  Leigh  were  at  a  native  village 
for  several  days  and  nights,  without  any  food  but  what  the 
natives  brought  us  :  what  they  had  they  gave  us  willingly,  and 
said,  *  Poor  creatures,  you  have  nothing  to  eat,  and  you  are 
not  accustomed  to  our  kind  of  food.*  I  shall  never  forget  the 
sympathy  and  kindness  of  these  poor  heathens.*'  What  a  lesson 
is  this  for  the  wreckers  who  still  disgrace  the  shores  of  Great 
Britain!  It  was  in  1836,  the  news  reached  the  indefatigable 
founder  of  the  Mission,  that  it  was  again  threatened  with  being 
broken  up.  Much  violence  was  experienced  from  the  natives, 
but  Mr.  Williams  stated  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Marsden,  "  It  is^ 
I  believe,  our  united  determination  to  remain  until  we  are 
driven  away.  When  the  natives  are  in  our  houses,  carrying 
away  our  property,  it  will  then  be  time  for  us  to  take  refuge 
in  our  boats."  Mr.  Marsden,  therefore,  lost  no  time  in  visit- 
ing New  Zealand,  to  stop  the  abandonment  of  the  Mission. 
He  sailed  in  H.  M.  ship  Rainbow ,  April  5th,  1827.  But,  on 
reaching  New  Zealand,  he  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  pros- 
pect had  again  brightened,  and  that  the  Mission  once  more 
bid  fair  to  prosper ;  he,  therefore,  only  remained  four  days, 
and,  writing  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  stated,  it  gave 
him  "  much  pleasure  to  find  the  Missionaries  so  comfortable, 
living  in  unity  and  godly  love,  devoting  themselves  to  the  work." 
February  16th,  1830,  Mr.  Marsden  sailed  on  his  sixth  visit, 
accompanied  by  his  daughter.  Miss  Mary  Marsden :  he  reached 
the  Bay  at  a  very  important  and  critical  time.  War  had  broken 
out  amongst  the  natives,  and  the  Chiefs  were  haranguing  their 
men  as  the  vessel  hove  in  sight,  but  immediately  the  news 
spread  that  Mr.  Marsden  had  arrived,  it  put  a  stop  to  the 

He  then  exclaimed,  with  equal  astonishment  and  indignation,  See  how  they 
trade !  They  must  be  a  mean  tribe.  The  vessel  was  taken,  but  afterwards 
giren  up  again  to  the  Missionaries. 


SAMUEL  MABSDBN.  293 

battle.  He  lost  no  time  in  visiting  the  hostile  parties^  and 
after  some  difficulties  and  delay^  he  succeeded  in  his  benevo- 
lent efforts,  and  peace  v^as  made.  On  the  1 1th  April,  he 
witnessed  the  baptism  of  a  man  and  two  women ;  he  also  was 
gratified  with  the  flourishing  state  of  the  schools,  every  indivi- 
dual in  them  being  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  Church 
Catechism,  and  the  chief  truths  of  the  Gospel,  many  also 
could  write,  and  were  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  first 
rules  of  arithmetic. 

The  natives  were  quite  enthusiastic  in  their  reception  of 
Mr.  Marsden;  they  welcomed  him  with  songs  and  dancing,  and 
firing  of  guns.  On  one  occasion,  more  than  2,000  armed  men 
were  present ;  he  was  surrounded  by  hundreds  as  he  went  from 
place  to  place.  On  the  2nd  April,  he  visited  Rangihu :  there 
on  the  highest  mound  were  Ruatara  and  his  son  interred ;  the 
latter,  a  promising  young  man,  who  was  to  have  returned  to 
Parramatta,  died  the  very  morning  of  Mr.  Marsden*s  arrival. 
During  his  illness,  he  would  often  say.  Oh !  what  would  Mr. 
Marsden  say  were  he  to  come  whilst  the  New  Zealanders  are 
fighting  ?  He  would  be  very  angry.  Mr.  Marsden's  health  being 
very  indifferent,  his  friends  hastened  his  return  before  the  winter, 
or  rainy  season  set  in,and  on  the  16th  of  June  he  reached  Sydney, 

After  this  visit  of  the  venerable  and  indefatigable  founder 
of  the  Mission,  the  work  began  steadily  to  increase.  The 
Gospel  had  reached  the  hearts  of  the  savage  natives,  and  now 
began  to  show  its  power. 

The  station  at  Kaitaia  in  the  north  was  commenced,  and  at 
the  Thames,  Matamata,  and  Waikato  fresh  ground  was  occu- 
pied. The  Missionary  could  now  traverse  the  country  with 
some  degree  of  safety,  although  this  could  not  be  done  by  the 
natives  themselves.  An  instance  of  this  occurred  at  the 
Waikato.  When  the  brethren  first  attempted  to  cross 
that  river,  on  moki,  or  canoes  formed  of  several  bundles  of 
sedge  tied  together,  no  other  means  being  presented,  the 
natives  spied  them  approaching,  and  taking  them  for  enemies, 
immediately  levelled  their  guns.  The  Missionaries  tied  a 
white  handkerchief  to  the  end  of  a  paddle,  and  hoisted  it  up. 
It  was  no  sooner  seen  than  down  went  the  guns,  and  they  were 


294  SAMUEL  MABSDEN. 

permitted  to  proceed  in  peace.  Rotorua  also  was  occupied, 
and  afterwards  Tauranga ;  and  although  wars  still  raged,  and 
dreadful  acts  of  cannibalism  continued  to  be  perpetrated,  the 
Gospel,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  rapidly  progressed.  All 
these  places  were  occupied  between  the  years  1832-5. 

February  9th,  1837,  Mr.  Marsden,  accompanied  by  his 
youngest  daughter,  sailed  in  the  Pyramus^  on  his  seventh  and 
last  visit.  He  was  then  in  his  seventy-second  year ;  with  holy 
joy  he  beheld  how  wonderfully  his  work  had  expanded.  Sta- 
tions had  been  formed  at  the  Thames,  at  Tauranga,  and  the 
interior,  and  although  war  was  again  raging,  still  there  was 
every  prospect  of  final  success.  The  aged  man's  heart  was 
rejoiced.  He  had  seen  the  beginning,  he  now  saw  it  in  its 
increase,  and  was  enabled  to  bless  God.  His  feelings  must 
have  been  gratified  by  the  universal  respect  and  love  mani- 
fested towards  him  ;  even  th^  heathen  natives  viewed  him  as 
their  friend  and  benefactor,  but  the  Christians,  as  their  beloved 
father  in  Christ. 

He  visited  all  the  Stations  in  H.M.S.  Rattlesnake,  Captain 
Hobson,  afterwards  the  first  Governor  of  New  Zealand ;  he 
passed  through  Cook's  Straits,  and  by  that  way  returned 
to  Sydney. 

Mr.  Brown  states:  ''Mr.  Marsden  preached  this  morning 
from  Rom.  viii.,  38,  39. — His  earthly  tabernacle  is  much 
shaken,  but  glory  is  shining  through  the  chinks.  It  was  an 
afiecting,  yet  delightful  spectacle,  to  see  him  in  the  pulpit :  his 
eyes,  too  weak  to  read  even  his  text  correctly,  and  yet  beaming 
with  immortality,  when  dwelling  on  the  Christian's  triumph 
over  life  and  death,  things  present  and  things  to  come,  tbrQUgh 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  A  most' 
suitable  text  to  form  the  final  address  of  this  aged  servant  and 
apostle  of  the  Lord.  Well  calculated  to  shew  the  stedfastness 
of  his  own  faith,  and  to  confirm  that  of  his  hearers. 

Nothing  more  remains  to  be  said.  When  his  work  was 
finished  in  New  Zealand,  little  remained  for  him  to  do  else- 
where. On  Christmas-day  of  the  same  year,  the  Bishop  of 
Australia  preached  at  Paihia,  and  confirmed  there,  just  23 
years  from  the  time  of  Mr.  Marsden's  first  sermon. 


SAMUEL  BiABSDEN.  295 

Chevalier  Captain  Dillon,  in  his  interesting  narrative  re- 
specting the  fate  of  La  Perouse,  calls  him  the  apostle  of  the 
South  Seas,  and  he  was  a  Boman  Catholic. 

Indeed,  Mr.  Marsden*s  thoughts,  though  chiefly  resting  on 
New  Zealand,  were  not  confined  to  it.  He  took  the  warmest 
interest  in  every  mission,  and  aided  each  to  the  utmost  of  his 
power,  so  much  so,  that  the  London  Missionary  Society  ap- 
pointed him  one  of  its  directors.  He  exhibited  a  similar  feeling 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  of  which  he  might 
also  be  called  the  founder.  In  fact,  his  was  truly  a  Catholic 
spirit.  His  heart's  desire  was,  the  establishment  of  his  Lord's 
kingdom  on  earth,  by  whatever  hands  it  might  be  done. 

July  27,  1837. — Mr.  Marsden  returned  to  New  South 
Wales ;  and  the  following  May,  whilst  on  a  ministerial  visit  to 
Windsor,  he  was  suddenly  taken  ill  in  the  clergyman's  house. 
His  last  words  were  *'  New  Zealand,"  and  thus  terminated  his 
long  course  of  usefulness.  No  funeral  had  ever  taken  place 
in  New  South  Wales  which  was  attended  like  his :  all  were 
there,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest — the  members  of  Govern- 
ment — the  clergy — the  laity — the  rich — the  poor — the  Pres- 
byterian— the  Wesleyan — and  even  the  Papist.  Indeed, 
nothing  could  exceed  the  respect  paid  him  at  his  death  and 
in  life  too!  I  remember  once  riding  down  George-street, 
Sydney,  with  him ;  every  person  moved,  rich  and  poor.  The 
Chief  Justice  ran  into  the  middle  of  the  street,  just  to  catch 
his  eye;  he  would  have  passed  without  noticing  him,  for 
he  seemed  quite  indifferent  to  the  respect  paid  him.  Many, 
however,  came  to  his  gig,  and  would  not  be  said  nay,  but 
would  have  a  word  or  a  nod,  and  these  appeared  to  be  of 
the  lowest  ranks.  Mr.  Marsden's  person  was  not  prepos- 
sessing; he  was  slovenly  in  dress,  and  stern  in  look;  but 
those  who  knew  him^  found  him  a  warm-hearted  friend.  His 
home  was  open  to  all ;  he  gave  no  invitations,  but  if  his  friends 
did  not  go  without  one,  he  was  angry  He  had  always  some 
New  Zealanders  about  him;  he  esteemed  them  superior  to 
every  other  aboriginal  race.  He  once  told  me  he  met  a  Maori 
in  the  country,  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing ;  he  said  he 
had  kept  a  store  in  the  interior,  until  he  was  robbed  by  bush- 


296  SAMUEL   IdARSDEN. 

rangers,  who  took  away  all  but  chairs  and  tables ;  and  then  his 
creditors  came,  and  a  man  got  up,  and  knock,  knock,  went  his 
hammer,  until  chairs,  tables,  and  every  thing  remaining  went 
also ;  but  I  am  going  to  sea  again,  and  when  I  get  a  little  money, 
I  will  begin  business  again.  He  said,  now  here  you  see  the  en- 
ergy of  the  New  Zealanders ;  they  are  sure  to  be  a  great  people*. 

The  Rev.   Mr.  C 1  once  accompanied  him   into  the 

interior :  they  called  on  a  man  whose  house  was  kept  with  the 
greatest  order.  And  his  wife,  a  picture  of  neatness,  came  and 
respectfully  laid  the  cloth  for  their  breakfast.  Mr.  C  t 
expressed  his  admiration,  for  such  sights  were  then  un- 
common. Mr.  Marsden  laughed,  and  afterwards  told  him 
the  following  story: — Once  when  he  was  there,  he  asked 
the  man  how  he  was  getting  on,  as  he  had  recently  married 
a  woman  out  of  the  factory  (all  convicts  of  the  worst  sort) : 
he  complained  that  she  would  not  do  anything;  she  would 
neither  cook  nor  keep  the  house  tidy ;  everything  was  in 
confusion;  and  when  he  spoke  to  her,  she  laughed.  Mr. 
Marsden  ordered  him  to  call  her;  she  would  not  come: 
at  last,  Mr.  Marsden  called  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  she  then 
came.  He  demanded,  what  is  this  that  I  hear  of  you  ?  So 
you  won't  obey  your  husband,  although  you  have  sworn  to  do 
so  before  the  Lord.  Words  will  make  no  impression  on  you ; 
severer  measures  must  be  adopted.  He  then  laid  his  horse- 
whip over  her  shoulders  most  lustily,  until  the  worthless  hussy 
went  down  on  her  knees,  and  begged  for  pardon,  promising  to 
behave  better  for  the  future.  Mr.  Marsden  told  her  he  would 
give  her  a  trial ;  but  she  must  take  care  and  not  forget  her 
promise.  Some  time  afterwards,  when  he  called,  he  asked 
him,  well  John,  how  does  your  wife  behave  f  Oh,  said  he, 
thanks  to  you,  sir,  there  cannot  be  a  better  wife  now,  she  is 
everything  I  can  wish. — We  must  remember.  New  South 
Wales  was  then  a  convict  colony. 

On  another  occasion,  when  he  had  his  youngest  daughter 
with  him  in  a  gig,  he  was  stopped  by  a  highwayman,  or  bush« 
ranger  as  they  are  called,  who  demanded  his  money.  Mr. 
Marsden  remonstrated  with  him,  and  spoke  to  him  of  his  sins. 
The  man  said,  it  does  not  signify,  I  am  in  for  it ;  it  is  too  late 


SAMUEL   MABSDEN.  297 

now  to  give  over ;  and  told  him  to  give  over  preaching ; 
bidding  his  daughter  empty  her  father's  pockets,  and  give 
him  the  money,  which  she  did,  Mr.  Marsden  still  continu- 
ing his  lecture,  and  telling  him  the  next  time  he  saw  him 
would  be  at  the  gallows.  Some  time  after,  a  man  was  to  be 
hung,  who  sent  for  him ;  he  then  recognized  the  person 
who  had  robbed  him.  He  said,  your  word  has  turned  out 
true:  here  you  meet  me  at  the  gallows.  Mr.  Marsden 
prayed  fervently  for  him;  the  criminal  seemed  to  respond 
with  all  his  heart ;  and  then  the  drop  fell.  He  was  a  Roman 
Catholic ;  and  I  believe  his  name  was  O'Donohu,  a  notorious 
bush-ranger. 

A  short  time  before  Governor  Bligh*s  deposition,  he  obtained 
leave  to  go  home :  and  on  that  occasion,  secured  several  good 
men  for  the  little  rising  colony,  two  of  whom  still  survive,  the 
Reverends  Dr.  Cowper  and  R.  Cartwright. 

Mr.  Marsden  was  wont  to  remark,  that  from  the  vilest  scum 
of  the  earth,, the  Lord  was  gathering  a  people  for  himself;  and 
he  might  have  added,  and  making  that  people,  so  opportunely 
raised  up  in  the  Australian  wilderness,  the  grand  point  d'appui 
of  all  the  Polynesian  Missions,  which  could  not  have  existed 
without  a  colony  there,  to  come  to  in  all  their  necessities. 

Few  persons  have  received  more  praise  or  abuse  than 
Mr.  Marsden.  His  enemies  were  many  and  bitter;  they 
accused  him  of  penuriousness,  and  a  sordid  desire  of  gaining 
money ;  and  yet  few  kept  so  hospitable  a  house,  and  knew  so 
little  of  his  own  affairs  as  he  did.  One  of  his  daughters 
related  to  me  a  circumstance  which  she  witnessed : — A  gentle- 
man called  one  day,  and  said,  he  came  to  repay  the  money  he 
had  borrowed  of  him,  many  years  before.  Mr.  Marsden  said, 
you  must  make  a  mistake.  You  do  not  owe  me  anything. 
O !  said  the  gentleman,  I  cannot  be  mistaken.  It  was  when 
I  first  landed  on  these  shores,  an  indigent  youth,  that  you 
most  liberally  advanced  me  one  hundred  pounds,  to  set  me  up 
in  trade  ;  and,  by  God's  blessing,  that  laid  the  foundation  of 
my  prosperity.  I  am  now  a  rich  man;  and  here  are  your 
hundred  pounds,  with  interest,  and  my  grateful  thanks  for 
your  disinterested  kindness.     In  vain  Mr.  Marsden  refused ; 


298  SAMUEL  MARSDEK. 

he  was  compelled  to  take  both*  Miss  Marsden  was  present  on 
that  occasion;  but  there  were  doubtless  many  similar  ones 
which  never  will  be  known  until  that  day  when  all  things  shall 
be  revealed. 

When  Dr.  Lang  was  building  the  first  Presbyterian  church 
in  Sydney,  and  could  not  go  on  for  want  of  funds,  what  did 
this  Catholic-minded  man  do  ?  he  was  the  senior  chaplain  of 
the  colony,  and  at  that  time  was  without  a  rival  creed.  Did 
he  view  with  jealousy  this  inroad  on  his  own  peculiar  province, 
and  rejoice  that  the  church  could  not  be  finished  ?  No : 
unsolicited  he  furnished  funds  for  its  completion;  which, 
without  this  opportune  aid,  its  founder  could  not  have  accom- 
plished. So  likewise  when  the  Wesleyans  were  talking  of  a 
chapel  at  Windsor,  where  Mr.  Marsden  had  land ;  he  offered 
a  donation  of  a  sufiicient  extent  on  which  to  erect  a  mission- 
house  and  chapel. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  bis  letter  on  the  occasion, 
which  is  equally  creditable  to  both  parties : — "  To  give  you 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  is  no  more  than  my  indispensable 
duty.  You  may  rely  with  confidence  on  my  continued  support 
and  co-operation  in  all  your  laudable  attempts  to  benefit  the 
inhabitants  of  this  populous  colony.  I  am  fully  persuaded 
that  your  ministerial  labours  will  tend  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  these  settlements,  as  well  as  the  eternal  interests  of  immortal 
souls.  The  importation  of  convicts  from  Europe  is  very  great 
every  year.  Hundreds  have  just  landed  on  our  shores  from 
various  parts  of  the  British  Empire :  hundreds  are  now  in  the 
harbour,  ready  to  disembark ;  and  hundreds  more  are  on  the 
bosom  of  the  great  deep,  and  hourly  expected.  We  must 
not  expect  that  governors,  magistrates,  and  policemen,  can 
find  a  remedy  for  the  moral  diseases  with  which  those  convicts 
are  infected.  Heaven  itself  has  provided  the  only  remedy, 
which  is  the  blessed  Balm  of  Gilead.  We  must  expect  great 
discouragements ;  but  let  us  go  on  sounding  the  rams*  horns ; 
the  walls  of  Jericho  will  and  must  fall  in  time.  We  are  feeble ; 
but  the  Lord  is  mighty,  and  will  bring  Israel  to  Mount  Zion. 
I  pray  that  the  Divine  blessing  may  attend  all  your  labors  for 
the  salvation  of  souls  in  this  colony." 


SAMUEL   MARSDEN. 


299 


When  his  funeral  sermon  was  preached  at  Parramatta^  the 
Wesleyan  superintendent  wrote : — Next  Sunday  morning  we 
intend  to  close  our  chapel ;  and  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  this  venerable  man^  go  to  church  to  hear  his 
funeral  sermon.* 

Here  then  we  close  this  brief  sketch,  with  the  declaration 
of  Bishop  Broughton,  that  although  he  was  the  first  legally 
appointed  Bishop  of  Australia,  he  must  always  consider 
Samuel  Marsden  to  have  been  the  first  actual  one. 

*  See  Life  of  Rev.  8.  Leigh,  page  106. 

A  church  has  been  erected  at  Parramatta,  as  a  most  suitable  monument  to 
his  memory.  And  a  tablet  is  to  be  placed  in  it,  which  the  New  Zealand 
converts  at  Wang^ui  haye  caused  to  be  made,  as  a  token  of  their  love  for 
the  father  of  their  church. 


A   TAIABA,   OR  CHl£F'tf  SIAFF. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
CHURCH. 


The  Church  iii  New  Zealand !  This  must  be  a  subject  of 
the  deepest  interest  to  the  Church  at  home,  by  whose  instru- 
mentality it  has  been  planted.  What  is  its  present  state  t 
What  are  its  hopes  and  prospects  for  the  future  ?  Its  position 
is  both  encouraging  and  discouraging ;  much  has  been  done, 
but  much  also  remains  to  be  done,  to  secure  the  New  Zealand 
race  as  a  permanent  part  of  the  Church  Universal,  and  to  blend 
it  with  our  own  in  one  harmonious  whole. 

The  Gospel  has  been  proclaimed  in  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land — the  religion  of  ancient  days  has  given  way ;  the 
deeply-rooted  institutions  of  remote  times,  which  once  held 
absolute  sway  over  the  native  mind,  have  been  torn  up  and 
cast  aside. 


CHUBCH.  301 

Nationally,  the  land  is  Christian.  To  the  Church  Missionary 
and  Wesleyan  Societies  alone  must  the  honour  be  given  of 
accomplishing  what  has  been  done ;  and,  though  in  later  years, 
other  laborers  have  appeared  in  the  field,  yet  they  have  effected 
nothing  worth  recording. 

But  the  subject  for  our  more  immediate  consideration  is  the 
Church  of  England  in  New  Zealand,  or,  more  properly  speak- 
ing, the  Church  which  the  former  has  been  the  honored 
instrument  of  planting. 

The  laborers  who  have  been  employed  in  this  work  were 
few  in  number,  though  the  harvest  has  been  great,  and  the 
field  of  labour  extensive,  even  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
island.  The  soldiers  of  the  cross  have,  therefore,  only  been 
able  to  overrun  the  land,  and  partially  occupy  it.  Except  by 
native  teachers,  many  of  whom  are  naturally  very  inefiBicient, 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  schools,  the  grand  bulk  of  the 
rising  generation  has  not  been  attended  to.  It  is,  therefore, 
evident  that  after  the  first  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  the  converts 
have  passed  away,  deadness  and  indifference  must,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  ensue,  independent  of  other  causes,  such  as  the 
increase  of  irreligious  characters,  who  are  constantly  wandering 
about  in  every  part  of  the  island,  and  are  unceasing  in  their 
efforts  to  undermine  the  labors  of  the  Missionary.  The  greater 
attention  given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  land  and  other  labors, 
which  engross  the  mind,  are  also  at  present  exercising  an 
injurious  influence,  and  rendering  the  natives  less  attentive  to 
their  religious  duties. 

To  make  the  work  permanent,  it  is  evident  a  ministry  equal 
to  the  wants  of  the  Church  must  be  established,  and  schools 
proportioned  to  the  population,  be  instituted. 

But  before  this  can  be  properly  effected,  the  Church  itself 
must  first  be  formed,  and  its  constitution  fixed  :  this  is  yet  to 
be  done.  As  far  as  the  natives  are  concerned,  its  discipline 
has  been  established ;  but  the  Church  in  general  as  applied 
to  both  races,  is  without  any  system  which  can  meet  its  general 
wants  and  necessities. 

The  fact  is,  its  members  in  New  Zealand  have  yet  to  decide 
upon  its  future  rules  of  government.     The  relative  powers  of 


302  CHURCH. 

its  bishops,  pastors  and  members  have  to  be  defined,  before 
anything  effectual  can  be  done  to  increase  its  eificiencj,  and 
render  the  work  prosperous.  Until  this  is  done,  everything 
must  be  in  a  measure  at  a  stand-still ;  and  this  is  the  present 
feeling  of  its  members.*  No  arbitrary  form  of  government  will 
obtain  the  cordial  support  of  the  people,  whether  in  Church  or 

*  Wellington,  New  Zealand,  October,  1860. 
To  the  Right  Reverend  the  Lord  Bishop  of  New  Zealand. 

We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  that  branch  of  the  Church  of  England 
which  is  settled  in  New  Zealand,  beg,  with  gpreat  respect,  to  offer  the  follow- 
ing exposition  of  our  views  and  wishes  for  your  lordship's  consideration  : — 

We  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  conviction,  that  no  Church  can  be  in  a 
satisfactory  state  which  is  destitnte  of  a  definite  external  organiialion,  involv- 
ing the  means  of  making  laws  and  regulations  for  the  management  of  its  own 
affairs.  Without  such  an  organization,  indeed,  a  Church  can  hardly  (we  mean 
with  reference  to  temporal  matters  only)  be  said  to  exist  as  a  corporate  body 
at  all ;  however  numerous,  zealous,  and  pious  its  individual  members  may  be, 
still,  as  a  Church,  it  can  neither  act  nor  speak,  nor  perform  any  of  the  functions 
incident  to  corporate  vitality.  This,  however,  is  unfortunately  the  state  of 
things  which  now  exists  in  these  islands,  with  respect  to  the  members  of  our 
communion,  and  it  is  needless  for  us  to  explain  at  length  to  your  Lordship  the 
evils  which  it  necessarily  involves.  We  have  no  regular  machinery  for  raisiDg 
funds  for  ecclesiastical  purposes,  nor  for  securing  their  due  appropriation  and 
employment — ^no  means  of  framing  and  enforcing  a  system  of  internal  disci- 
pline— no  means  of  providing  by  suitable  leg^lation  for  the  needs  of  that  very 
peculiar  and  critical  position  which  is  occupied  by  our  branch  of  Christ's 
Church.  Nor  is  external  feebleness  the  only  evil  which  is  produced  by  the 
absence  of  any  Church  organization ;  it  is,  moreover,  hardly  possible  under 
such  circumstances,  to  avoid  the  danger  of  torpor  and  apathy  with  respect  to 
ecclesiastical  affairs  among  individuals ;  the  danger,  in  other  words,  of  indif- 
ference about  responsibilities  and  duties,  which  they  have  no  adequate  means 
of  discharging.  Feeling,  very  strongly,  the  existence  and  magnitude  of  the 
evib  to  which  we  have  referred,  we  now  approach  your  Lordship  with  our 
earnest  request  that  you  will  take  steps  towards  the  application  of  an  effectual 
remedy  for  them. 

From  what  we  have  said,  your  Lordship  will  perceive  that,  in  our  opinion, 
such  a  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  the  constitution  of  a  government  for  the 
Church  of  New  Zealand.  We  do  not  think  it  necessary  or  expedient  to 
submit  to  your  Lordship  a  detailed  plan  for  such  a  government ;  but  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  any  plan,  which  shall  provide  for  the  due  repre- 
sentation of  all  orders  and  classes  of  Churchmen  in  a  general  LegislMive 
Assembly,  and  which  shall  attribute  to  that  Assembly  power  to  regulate  and 
manage  all  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  which  concern  the  members  of  our  com- 
munion in  their  corporate  capacity,  will  command  our  full  and  cordial  assent. 
These  constitute,  in  our  (pinion,  the  two  main  principles  upon  which  such  a 


CHURCH.  303 

State.  The  age  demands  more  liberality  in  all  its  institutions. 
As  the  Church  has  professed  to  respond  to  this  feeling,  by 
going  back  to  primitive  times,  popular  opinion  will  not  let  it 
stop  short  at  the  third  century,  but  make  it  go  on  to  the 
fountain  head.  It  is  to  the  first  century,  to  the  times  of  the 
Apostles  at  the  latest,  that  we  must  seek  for  direction,  and 
from  Scripture  only  we  should  draw  up  our  code  of  Church 
government. 

The  grand  and  permanent  form  which  the  Christian  Church 
will  assume  on  earth,  is  yet  to  be  seen ;  nor  will  it  be  surpris- 
ing if  it  should  first  assume  it  in  these  distant  parts  of  the 
earth,  in  our  colonies,  where  the  deeply-rooted  prejudices  and 
feelings  of  former  times  are  nbt  established,  and  where  every- 
thing is  prepared  for  the  introduction  of  a  more  truly  com- 
prehensive form  of  divine  worship,  which  shall  not  only  be 
national,  but  universal  in  its  operation.  The  Church  in  New 
Zealand  was  first  commenced  with  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  as  in  Apostolic  times,  so  the  same  constitution  then 
established  cannot  be  unsuitable  for  our  infant  Church.  We 
ought  to  begin  de  novo,  and  not  see  how  much  of  intermediate 
systems  can  be  retained.  The  strong  efibrt  now  made  to  erect 
an  ecclesiastical  hierachy  in  the  southern  hemisphere  will  and 
must  fail,  because  the  times  and  feelings  of  the  people,  as  well 
as  the  word  of  God,  are  against  it.  Hence  the  feeble  impres- 
sion made  on  the  public  mind  by  the  minutes  of  conference 
of  the  Australian  Bishops  at  Sydney,  from  whose  united 
spirituality  so  much  was  naturally  expected.* 

government  as  we  now  seek  should  be  founded  :  and  we  eamesUy  trust  that, 
if  your  Lordship  shall  think  fit  to  accede  to  the  request  which  we  have  made, 
you  will  not  lose  sight  of  the  g^eat  importance  which  we  attribute  to  them. 

In  conclusion,  we  have  only  to  add,  that  we  venture  to  anticipate  your 
Lordship's  favourable  consideration  of  our  suggestions  with  the  greater 
confidence,  because  we  are  aware  that  you  have  long  been  anxious  to  see  an 
efficient  form  of  Church  government  established  in  your  diocese,  and  have  on 
various  occasions  recommended  the  subject  to  our  serious  consideration. 

(Signed)  Ootavius  Hadfield,  Archdeacon  of  Kapiti, 

And  twelve  others. 

*  That  the  introduction,  &c^  of  the  question  of  Holy  Baptism,  &o.,  was  un- 
called for  and  injudicious;  the  construction  put  by  them  (tje.  Bishops),  if 


304  CHURCH. 

Those  minutes  clearly  revealed  the  desires  of  their  framers, 
who,  however  they  might  conceal  their  real  principles,  evi- 
dently showed  their  determination  to  avail  themselves  of  every 
opportunity  to  shackle  the  mind  with  the  thraldom  of  the 
darkest  ages  of  the  Church.  One  alone  of  that  bench  de- 
clared to  the  public,  his  sentiments  were  not  in  unison  with 
those  of  his  brethren,  and  that  solitary  individual  is  justly 
esteemed  by  his  diocese  as  one  whose  feelings  do  accord  with 
the  age  he  lives  in. 

At  home,  Church  and  State  are  united.  Nationally  we  have 
acknowledged  our  duty  of  maintaining  the  worship  of  God, 
and  made  it  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land  to  do  so.  Never  has 
the  British  empire  so  signally  prospered  as  it  has  done  since 
this  has  been  the  case. 

But  this  law  is  now  confined  to  the  parent  state ;  it  does 
not  apply  to  the  colonies;  there  is  no  established  form  of 
worship,  or  any  national  acknowledgment  of  God  in  them. 

In  New  South  Wales,  it  is  true.  Sir  Richard  Burke's  Church 
Act  provided  a  Government  maintenance  for  ministers  of 
every  denomination,  Jew  and  Gentile;  but  the  enormous  cost 
of  this  multiplied  provision,  has  already  compelled  legislators 
to  put  a  restriction  upon  it  for  the  future,  and  in  all  pro- 
bability, every  denomination  will  shortly  have  to  maintain  its 
own  ministry,  and  the  increasing  infidel  part  of  the  community 
will  furnish  aid  to  none. 

This  is  the  case  in  New  Zealand.  The  Government  has 
destroyed  the  connexion  of  Church  and  State,  or  rather  has 
not  extended  the  law  of  England  to  New  Zealand.  Govern- 
ment has  done  nothing  to  establish  the  worship  of  God  in  the 

imposed,  would  be  tantamount  to  a  new  article  of  faith.* — Resolution  of  the 
CUrgy  o/Auttralia. 

The  Australian  Bishops,  &c.,  have  attempted  to  narrow  the  terms  of  com- 
munion, &c.,by  their  formal  gratuitous  and  unnecessary  dogmatical  declaration 
on  the  subject  of  Baptismal  Regeneration. — Resolutions  of  (he  Laity  of  South 
Australia. 

We  regret,  that  after  the  decision  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  two  Arch- 
bishops, your  Lordship  should  have  allowed  yourself  to  regard  the  views  of 
Mr.  Gorham  and  Tract  90,  as  the  extremes  of  departure  from  honest  cohesion 

to  the  Articles  and  Liturgy,  &c Address  of  the  Clergy  in  Van  Diemen^s 

Land  to  their  Bishop, 


CHURCH.  305 

land;  it  has  neither  aided  in  the  erection  of  churches,  or  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  ministry.  The  Sovereign  here  ceases 
to  be  "  the  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  in  the  sense  used  in 
England.  All  that  has  hitherto  been  done  to  establish  the 
Church  of  England,  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Church 
itself,  as  represented  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and 
more  recently,  by  the  Society  for  Promoting  the  Gospel. 
Therefore,  with  those  two  powerful  societies  of  our  Church, 
at  present  rests  the  maintenance  of  the  New  Zealand  Church, 
which  is  not  yet  sufficiently  rooted  in  the  land  to  sustain 
itself,  without  being  still  upheld  by  the  fostering  hands  which 
first  planted  it.  So  long  as  this  state  continues,  with  them 
must  rest  the  right  and  duty  of  selecting  and  appointing  its 
bishops  and  pastors,  and  drawing  up  a  system  for  its  future 
governance. 

But  when  those  societies  withdraw  their  aid,  and  leave  the 
infant  church  to  its  own  resources,  and  to  support  its  ministry, 
then  it  must  exercise  its  own  inherent  right  in  the  sole  ap- 
pointment of  its  ofiicers. 

Cast  off  by  Government,  it  must  rely  upon  itself,  and 
altered  as  that  Government  now  is,  it  may  be  quite  as  well, 
and  is  no  doubt  intended  by  Infinite  Wisdom  to  preserve  the 
Church  pure,  and  from  an  injurious  influence. 

In  considering  the  future  constitution  of  the  Church,  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  its  ministry  should  have  looked 
more  to  those  societies  representing  the  parent  Church,  and 
less  to  secular  aid.  It  seems  remarkable,  that  whilst  in  general, 
the  ministry  is  so  jealous  of  all  lay  interference,  in  this  case 
it  has  rather  looked  up  to  its  superior  piety  and  wisdom  to 
give  our  infant  Church  its  future  form,  than  to  the  archbishops 
and  bishops  of  the  parent  Church.  I  cannot  but  think  that 
this  is  inconsistent  with  faith  and  principle. 

The  American  Episcopalian  Ciiurch,  when  severed  from  its 
Anglican  parent,  looked  to  itself,  and  not  to  the  State,  in 
solemn  convocation  imploring  the  guidance  and  direction  of 
the  Most  High,  used  the  power  given  it,  drew  up  its  own  laws, 
and  has  gone  on  and  prospered  ever  since.  Surely  this  is  a 
suitable  example  for  the  Colonial  Church  at  the  present  time. 

X 


306  CHURCH. 

This  is  a  critical  period  for  the  Church  of  New  Zealand, 
and  the  Australian  colonies  as  well.  May  their  members  look 
above  for  direction,  and  not  trust  in  an  arm  of  flesh,  but  solely 
lean  on  the  arm  of  the  Lord.  With  the  Bible  in  hand,  may 
they  invoke  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  full  confidence 
look  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  to  direct  and  lead  them 
to  carry  it  on,  according  to  His  good  will  and  pleasure,  so  as 
best  to  accomplish  the  great  purpose  which  must  never  be  lost 
sight  of — the  establishment  of  Christ's  universal  kingdom  on 
earth. 

The  Church  in  the  colonies,  it  must  be  remembered  and 
acknowledged,  does  not  exclusively  belong  to  the  Church  of 
England.  Men  of  all  denominations  and  creeds  flock  to  those 
newly-founded  communities ;  colonial  society,  therefore,  is 
formed  of  every  shade  of  religion. 

It  becomes,  then,  a  deeply  important  inquiry.  Shall  all  the 
diflerences  of  the  old  country  be  perpetuated  in  these  new 
ones  ?  Shall  these  b'ttle  rising  communities  be  split  into  all 
those  religious  factions  which  separate  the  Church  at  home  ? 
Is  it  desirable  ?  Is  it  consonant  with  Christian  love  and  unity  ? 
Is  it  calculated  to  promote  the  spread  of  our  common  faith,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  Church  Universal  ?  It  cannot  be. 
Why  then  attempt  it  ?  In  doing  so,  we  only  transport  to  the 
colonies  the  worst  part  of  our  faith ;  we  destroy  the  kernel, 
love  and  unity,  which  alone  possesses  the  germ  of  vitality, 
and  content  ourselves  with  carrying  ofl*  the  worthless  husks 
of  our  Christianity — our  divisions  and  hatreds — to  these  our 
adopted  homes.     How  can  we  expect  that  such  will  flourish  ? 

But  is  it  necessary  ?  Shall  we  of  the  Church  of  England  be 
satisfied  with  being  only  one  of  the  many  petty  sects,  and 
shall  they  of  those  sects  be  content  to  transport  all  the  ani- 
mosities, heart  burnings,  bitterness,  and  separations  of  the 
old  country  ?  God  forbid, — it  is  not,  cannot  be  necessary ;  it 
18  contrary  to  reason,  love,  and  Christianity. 

But  further  :  it  is  very  seldom  that  men  carry  away  all  the 
bitterness  and  exclusive  feelings  of  the  fatherland;  as  they 
mix  with  persons  of  the  other  classes,  they  gradually  become 
softened,  asperities  are  rubbed  down,  and  each  soon  begin  to 


CHxmcH.  307 

think  more  kindly  of  the  other,  however  far  separated  at  home ; 
in  fact,  old  ocean  washes  away  many  of  the  vain  fancies  of 
former  days  before  he  lands  them  on  the  shores  of  their  newly- 
adopted  country.  Hence,  abroad,  the  Churchman  and  Dis- 
senter condescend  to  meet;  the  stiff  Presbyterian  and  Epis- 
copalian are  good  friends.  All  find  the  real  differences  between 
them  to  be  much  less  than  they  once  thought ;  their  mountains 
turn  into  molehills,  and  it  becomes  evident  that  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  union  are  not  so  many  and  insurmountable  as 
they  once  thought  them  to  be. 

The  present  state  of  division  at  home  is  anything  but 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God;  nor  can  it  now  be  helped, 
unless  a  miracle  should  knock  down  all  the  partition  walls, 
which  separate  man  from  his  fellow.  The  Evangelical 
Alliance  has  been  called  into  existence,  with  the  laudable 
object  of  uniting  all  who  love  the  Lord  in  one  bond  of 
fellowship ;  but  though  much  has  been  done,  yet  so  long  as 
each  continues  to  stand  apart  ensconced  in  his  own  fortress, 
how  can  they  be  brought  together?  It  is  in  the  colonies 
that  so  desirable  an  object  has  the  best  chance  of  being 
accomplished,  before  their  various  systems  are  established ; — 
there,  the  difficulties  which  hinder  union  at  home  do  not 
exist.  We  have  neither  that  corrupt  patronage  which 
disgraces  the  English  Church,  nor  those  who  buy  and  sell 
God's  patrimony,  who,  whilst  inflicting  such  a  deadly  wound 
on  the  vitality  of  the  church,  render  the  union  with  those 
without  hopeless. 

What,  then,  is  necessary  to  render  all  of  one  heart  and 
mind?  It  is  not  the  surrendering  any  part  of  our  creed — 
for  the  Presbyterian  and  Evangelical  dissenter  equally  hold 
it, — it  is  simply  so  to  enlarge  the  outward  portals,  as  to 
admit  all  within ;  so  to  simplify  our  church  government, 
and  to  give  the  laity  a  voice  in  its  councils,  that  they  may 
feel  themselves  to  be  indeed  members  of  Christ's  body. 
With  softened  feelings  this  cannot  be  a  very  difficult  work ; 
with  so  desirable  an  object  in  view,  few  real  Christians  would 
object  to  concede  some  points  to  obtain  such  an  union.  How 
glorious  an  end ! — a  truly  National  Church  would  then  be 

x2 


established.  Id  effecting  this,  another  end  would  also  be 
gained,  viz.,  the  removal  of  alt  difficulty  from  a  state  endow- 
ment; the  great  obstacle  to  which,  at  present,  is,  the 
multiplicity  of  sects,  and  the  want  of  it  will  be  the  certain 
increase  of  infidelity,  now  lamentably  apparent  in  the  colonies. 
It  would  give  them  the  character  of  Chritlian  ttates,  which 
at  present  they  have  not,  and  ensure  the  divine  blessing, 
which  we  cannot  expect  so  long  as  (heathen-like)  we  nationally 
deny  God ! 

Could  but  the  present  Bishop  of  New  Zealand  entertain 
similar  sentiments  to  those  here  expressed,  there  is  no  one 
wh<»e  learning,  zeal,  self-devotion,  and  energy,  would  better 
fit  him  for  such  a  noble  undertaking ;  and  I  feel  finnly  per- 
suaded the  time  is  rapidly  approaching,  when  these  views  will 
not  be  thought  chimerical,  but  the  only  sound  ones  which  will 
bear  the  test  of  Scripture,  and  which,  therefore,  must  finally 
prevail. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

HONQI. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  New  Zealand  Chiefs,  who 
has  lived  since  we  became  acquainted  with  the  country,  was 
Hongi,  a  principal  man  of  the  Nga-puhi  tribe.  Mr.  Maisden 
met  with  him  during  hia  first  visit  to  the  Bay  of  Islands,  in 
1814 ;  he  described  him  then  as  a  warrior,  but  of  a  very  mild 
disposition,  and  with  very  little  appearance  of  the  savage  about 
him.  He  was  the  Chief  of  seventeen  places,  but  chiefly  re- 
siding at  the  Keri  Keri.  He  was  of  an  ingenious  turn  of  mind, 
extremely  anxious  to  leam  European  arts,  and,  at  Mr.  Mars- 
den's  request,  made  a  bust  of  himself,  with  a  piece  of  an  old 
iron  hoop,  his  only  implement  ;  on  this  he  delineated  his  own 


310  IIONGI. 

moko  (tattoo),  and  this  was  sent  to  the  Church  Mission-house 
(see  cut,  page  14€),  where  it  is  still  preserved,  and  is,  indeed, 
a  very  creditable  performance. 

On  Mr,  Marsden*s  return  to  New  South  Wales,  Hongi  and 
several  other  Chiefs  accompanied  him.  He  remained  in  the 
colony  until  the  end  of  the  year  1815,  when  he  returned  home, 
and  became  the  uniform  protector  of  the  Missionaries,  fre- 
quently throwing  himself  between  them  and  death.  In  other 
respects,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  distinguished  himself 
particularly,  until  1820,  when,  with  another  young  Chief 
named  Waikato,  a  near  relative,  he  accompanied  Mr.  Kendal 
to  England.  Whilst  there,  he  resided  several  mouths  with 
his  companion  at  Cambridge,  to  be  near  Professor  Lee,  who 
then  drew  up  the  New  Zealand  Grammar,  which  bears  his 
name.  The  part  of  the  town  where  he  resided  has  ever  since 
been  called  New  Zealand.  Hongi  said,  "  They  had  come  to 
London  to  see  the  King,  the  multitude  of  his  people,  what 
they  were  all  doing,  and  the  goodness  of  their  land.  They 
wished  to  remain  in  England  one  month,  and  then  return 
home.  They  desired  to  take  back  with  them  one  hundred 
men  ;  miners,  to  search  for  iron,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  and 
Missionaries,  to  teach  them  the  arts  and  religion  in  their  own 
tongue.  They  were  anxious  to  have  twenty  British  soldiers, 
and  three  officers  to  keep  the  soldiers  in  order.  They  would 
protect  them,  and  grant  them  plenty  of  land."  Such  were  the 
words  of  Hongi  and  Waikato. 

Great  interest  was  excited  by  this  visit  of  the  New  Zealand 
Chiefs,  whose  finely  tattooed  faces  excited  general  attention. 
George  the  Fourth  honored  them  with  an  interview ;  he 
showed  them  the  armoury  of  his  palace,  and  presented  them 
with  a  complete  suit  of  armour,  double-barrelled  guns,  and 
many  other  valuable  artides.  Whilst  Waikato  coveted  every- 
thing he  saw,  Hongi  only  admired  the  discipline  of  the  troops, 
the  dijBferent  weapons  of  war,  the  coat  of  mail  which  had  been 
given  him,  and  the  great  elephant. 

The  bearing  and  deportment  of  Hongi  was  very  dignified  : 
when  treated  as  a  great  man,  he  assumed  the  manner  of  a 
prince ;  but  when  only  regarded  as  ^n  object  of  curiosity,  he 


HONGI.  311 

never  failed  to  show  his  disgust,  and  even  indignation.  A 
striking  instance  of  this  occurred  at  a  gentleman's  house,  where 
a  large  party  had  been  invited  to  meet  the  Chiefis.  Hongi  had 
assumed  all  the  airs  of  a  superior,  and  had  acted  the  prince, 
which  he  well  knew  how  to  do,  until  he  observed  some  ladies 
evidently  tracing  the  lines  upon  his  tattooed  face,  whilst  a 
smile  played  on  their  own,  which  he  thought  implied  a  feeling 
of  pity  towards  himself.  Immediately  he  arose  in  a  state 
of  great  excitement,  threw  himself  across  three  chairs,  and 
covering  his  face  with  his  hands,  remained  in  that  position 
until  the  company  left.* 

These  Chiefs  met  with  many  kind  friends,  who  made  them 
liberal  presents  of  arms  and  ammunition,  as  injudiciously  as 
the  King,  who  little  thought  what  miseries,  murders,  and 
enormities  they  were  thus  giving  rise  to. 

As  vdnter  approached,  Hongi  was  seized  vrith  an  affection 
of  the  chest,  which  reduced  him  to  a  very  precarious  state  ;  a 
blister  was  recommended,  which  for  a  long  time  he  would  not 
suffer  to  be  applied,  but  when  it  was  at  last,  and  yielded  him 
speedy  relief,  he  said  he  would  not  quit  the  country  until  he 
was  supplied  with  a  pot  full  of  that  valuable  medicine.  When 
they  were  sufficiently  restored  to  health,  the  Government 
granted  them  a  passage  to  New  South  Wales. 

On  their  arrival  in  Sydney,  they  disposed  of  the  more 
useful  gifts  they  had  received  from  their  Christian  friends, 
such  as  tools  and  implements  of  agriculture,  and  with  the 
proceeds  enlarged  their  stock  of  gunpowder  and  shot.  Whilst 
they  remained  in  the  colony,  they  took  up  their  abode  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Marsden,  where  they  met  with  Hinaki  and 
another  Chief,  who  had  taken  their  passage  to  London.  Mr. 
Marsden  having  perceived  the  bad  effect  Hongi's  visit  had 
produced,  in  fixing  his  desires  upon  war,  as  a  means  of  ac- 
quiring that  power  which  he  longed  for,  in  order  to  be  a  great 
man,  like  King  George,  dissuaded  Hinaki  from  proceeding ; 
and  hearing  how  very  ill  Hongi  had  been,  he  at  once  com- 
plied with  his  wish,  and  agreed  to  return  to  New  Zealand 
with  Hongi  and  Waikato.     Whilst  they  were  all  thus  living 

•  See  Life  of  Bev,  S.  Leigh,  ptige  12^, 


312  HONGI. 

together  under  Mr.  Marsden*s  hospitable  roof,  Hongi  gave  the 
first  intimation  of  his  savage  disposition.  Hinaki  was  a  Chief 
from  the  Thames.  Hongi  told  him  one  day  that  he  had  heard 
that  one  of  his  people  had  been  killed  by  some  of  the  Thames 
tribes,  and  he  must  have  satisfaction  ;  then,  thrusting  out  his 
tongue  and  distorting  his  countenance,  he  said  with  a  con* 
temptuous  sneer,  "  Make  haste  home,  put  your  pa  in  a  state 
of  defence,  for  as  soon  as  I  can  assemble  my  people  I  shall 
fight  you."  In  vain  did  Hinaki  try  to  persuade  him  to  make 
peace ;  they  sat  at  the  same  table,  slept  under  the  same  roof, 
and  sailed  in  the  same  ship,  and  no  one  would  have  supposed 
they  were  enemies.  Hinaki,  finding  that  Hongi  was  in  earnest, 
and  that  there  was  no  prospect  of  his  making  peace,  hastened 
home,  and  assembled  all  his  forces  to  resist  the  invader ;  who 
having  given  his  enemy  time  to  prepare,  soon  made  his  appear- 
ance at  the  head  of  three  thousand  men,  determined  to  turn 
the  deadly  gifts  he  had  received  to  account,  without  loss  of 
time.  Although  the  tribe  he  went  to  attack  was  related  to 
his  own,  still  the  pleasure  of  trying  the  efficacy  of  his  military 
stores  prevailed  over  every  other  feeling.  The  battle,  however, 
was  for  a  long  time  doubtful.  Hinaki  was  a  man  of  noble  form, 
and  determined  courage,  and  though  fighting  on  unequal  terms, 
he  still  maintained  the  combat,  until  Hongi,  arranging  his  men 
in  the  form  of  a  cuneus,  or  wedge,  and  placing  himself  at  the 
apex,  directed  his  men  to  wheel  round  to  the  right  or  left 
according  to  circumstances  :  at  last  he  shot  Hinaki,  who  did 
not  fall  until  he  had  received  four  balls.  His  savage  conquerer 
rushed  forward,  and  with  his  English  clasp-knife  he  scooped 
out  the  eye  of  his  expiring  enemy,  and  instantly  swallowed  it. 
He  then  stabbed  him  in  the  neck,  and  drank  his  warm  blood, 
as  it  gushed  forth  from  the  wound. 

Hinaki  had  two  brothers,  who  were  likewise  killed,  one 
being  nearly  as  noble  a  looking  person  as  himself;  the  other  a 
youth  of  about  twenty.  Their  bodies  were  eaten,  and  their 
heads  embalmed  as  trophies  of  victory.  About  one  thousand 
men  were  slain,  and  three  hundred  were  cooked  and  eaten  on 
the  battle-field.  So  complete  was  the  victory,  that  the  place 
has  never  since  been  inhabited.    It  now  belongs  to  the  Bishop's 


HONGI. 


313 


college,  being  part  of  its  endowment.  Hongi  returned  to  the 
Bay.  Each  canoe  was  filled  with  captives,  and  had  several  heads 
of  their  enemies  placed  at  their  stems  and  sterns  by  way  of 
ornament.  Hongi  had  twenty  prisoners  on  board  his  canoe, 
whom  he  intended  to  retain  as  slaves  ;  but  his  daughter,  who 
had  lost  her  husband  in  the  fight,  with  dishevelled  locks,  rushed 
down  to  the  water's  edge,  as  the  canoe  touched  the  shore,  and 
seizing  the  sword  presented  to  her  father  by  the  King's  own 
hand,  jumped  on  board,  and  smote  ofif  sixteen  heads  of  the 
poor  captives,  who,  without  a  murmur,  placed  their  necks 
over  the  side-board  of  the  canoe.*  Twenty  more  were  also 
killed  and  eaten  ;  and  yet  the  frantic  woman,  not  thinking 
that  the  shade  of  her  husband  was  sufiSciently  appeased  with 
this  sacrifice,  went  into  the  bush  with  a  loaded  musket,  and 
there  shot  herself ;  the  ball,  however,  only  passing  through 
her  arm,  instead  of  her  head,  she  was  still  alive  when  found, 
but  determined  to  accompany  her  husband  to  the  Reinga,  she 
afterwards  strangled  herself. 

Hongi  had  no  sooner  finished  one  expedition  than  he  pre- 
pared for  another.  He  quickly  assembled  a  thousand  men,  and 
proceeded  with  them  to  Mercury  Bay,  to  make  war  upon  the 
tribes  of  that  district,  ordering  another  army  of  two  thousand 
more  to  be  raised,  and  to  follow  him.  Success  again  attended 
his  arms,  and,  flushed  with  victory,  he  next  attacked  Kaipara, 
where  he  made  a  great  slaughter.  In  18^2,  he  again  visited 
the  Thames  and  the  Waikato,  and  ascended  the  Waipa,  where 
he  took  several  large  pas,  thence  he  nearly  penetrated  as  far 
as  the  Wanganui ;  in  this  expedition  he  slew  fifteen  hundred 
of  his  enemies. 

In  1823,  he  attacked  Rotorua,  conveying  his  canoes  by 
water,  as  far  as  possible,  and  then  dragging  them  by  a  road  he 
had  cut  through  the  forest,  to  the  lake.  Here  again  he  was 
victorious,  and  slew  many.  He  continued  every  year  his 
hostile  raids,  first  to  one  part  and  then  to  another,  always  with 
success.  His  name  spread  terror  wherever  he  went ;  in  fact, 
he  became  the  Napoleon  of  New  Zealand,  and  declared  when 

•  An  eye  witness  related  this  horrid  butchery  to  me, — Mr.  Puckey,  of 
Raitara,  one  of  our  Catechists. 


314  HONGI. 

remonstrated  with  by  the  Missionaries^  that  he*  should  not 
desist  until  he  had  subjected  the  entire  island  to  his  controul ; 
that  as  England  had  but  one  King,  so  likewise  there  should 
only  be  one  in  New  Zealand.  But  as  there  is  a  bound  to  all 
human  glory,  "  Hither  shalt  thou  go  and  no  further,"  so  it 
was  with  Hongi.  He  fulfilled  the  Scripture:  "He  that 
taketh  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword." 

In  18^,  he  declared  war  against  Tara,  and  the  tribe  which 
massacred  the  crew  of  the  Boyd,  making  that  an  excuse  for 
his  ambitious  designs.  In  the  beginning  of  18S7  his  men 
plundered  and  burned  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Station, 
which  had  been  commenced  at  Wangaroa  a  year  or  two 
before ;  they  told  the  Missionaries,  "  Your  Chiefs  have  fled ; 
all  the  people  have  left  the  place,  and  you  will  be  stripped  of 
all  your  property  before  noon  ;  therefore,  instantly  begone ! " 

It  appears,  however,  as  if  this  was  to  be  the  termination  of 
his  success.  His  only  redeeming  act  had  been  the  preservation 
of  those  who  came  to  raise  his  countrymen ; — immediately 
he  put  forth  his  hand  to  injure  them,  he  fell !  He  killed  or 
dispersed  "the  man-eating  tribes,"  as  he  termed  those  who 
cut  oflF  the  Boydy  although  the  epithet  was,  perhaps,  far  more 
applicable  to  himself,  for  he  appears  to  have  surpassed  all 
who  had  gone  before  him  in  the  number  of  victims  he  and 
his  followers  had  consumed.  Twenty  only  of  these  man-eaters 
escaped ; — they  glutted  themselves  with  the  slain,  sparing 
neither  woman,  nor  even  suckling  child.  The  remnant  of  his 
enemies  fled  to  Hunahuna,  a  village  near  the  Maimgamuka, 
where  they  made  a  stand.  Hongi,  who  had  ensconced  himself 
behind  a  tree,  stepped  forward  to  take  aim,  when  a  ball  struck 
him :  it  broke  his  collar-bone,  passed  in  an  oblique  direction 
through  his  right  breast,  and  came  out  a  little  below  his 
shoulder-blade,  close  to  the  spine.  This  terminated  his  fearful 
career ;  for  though  he  lingered  a  full  year,  the  wound  never 
healed*  When  he  breathed,  the  air  escaped  through  the 
orifice  with  a  hissing  sound,  which  he  made  a  subject  of 
merriment. 

He  received  his  wound  in  January,  1827.  On  the  6th  of 
March,  1828,  the  life  of  this  remarkable  savage  terminated. 


HONOI.  315 

In  his  last  hours^  so  far  from  attending  to  the  words  of  the 
Missionaries,  he  urged  his  followers  to  prosecute  the  war,  and 
exterminate  his  enemies.  When  Patuone  visited  him,  a  day 
or  two  before  his  death,  and  was  told  he  was  dying,  he  said, 
"  No,  I  am  not  dying :  my  heart  is  quite  light.  I  am  not 
dying."  The  next  day  he  fainted,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
dead ;  when  he  revived,  he  said,  he  should  die,  but  not  until 
the  morrow.  He  ordered  his  powder  to  be  brought  to  him, 
and  when  he  saw  it,  he  said  to  his  children,  Ka  or  a  koutou, — 
you  will  be  safe  ;  intimating,  the  powder  would  be  their  pro- 
tection. He  then  summoned  his  sons,  and  gave  the  coat  of 
mail  he  had  received  from  the  King  of  England  to  one  of  them, 
and  then  divided  his  battle-axes  and  fire-arms  amongst  them, 
sternly  demanding,  "  Who  will  dare  to  attack  my  followers 
after  I  am  gone  ?" 

Early  next  morning,  though  evidently  sinking  fast,  he 
continued  to  rally  his  friends,  and  said,  ''  No  matter  from  what 
quarter  your  enemies  come,  let  their  numbers  be  ever  so  great, 
should  they  come  here  hungry  for  you,  kia  toa,  kia  toa,  be 
brave,  be  brave  !  Thus  will  you  revenge  my  death,  and  thus 
only  do  I  wish  to  be  revenged."  He  continued  repeating 
these  words  until  he  expired. 

Patuone,  as  soon  as  he  heard  that  Hongi  was  dead,  bid  his 
followers  sit  still,  whilst  he  and  a  few  of  his  friends  went  to 
see  the  corpse,  lest  Hongi's  people  should  be  alarmed,  as  they 
had  blockaded  all  the  entrances  to  the  pa.  At  first  he  was 
refused  permission  to  enter,  until  Hunaroa  interfered;  he 
found  one  of  his  sons  binding  him  up,  his  head  still  reclining 
on  his  breast.  When  the  body  was  fully  dressed,  and  his^ 
head  richly  ornamented  with  feathers,  all  the  obsequies  due 
to  so  great  a  Chief  were  performed.  His  family,  fearing  an 
attack,  wished  to  bury  him  at  once,  but  Patuone  said,  "  Why 
all  this  haste  ?  You  will  be  the  first  to  bury  your  father  alive : 
let  him  smell  before  you  bury  him :  what  if  he  does  smell  ?" 
Yielding  to  this  advice,  he  laid  in  state  for  two  more  days, 
which  were  spent  in  repeating  the  pihi,  or  funeral  ode,  in 
cutting  themselves,  in  crying,  and  firing  off  guns.  In  the 
meantime,  Hongi's  friends  arrived  from  the  Bay  of  Islands, 


316  TAREHA. 

who,  with  the  Hokianga  natives,  formed  a  large  procession, 
when  this  savage  warrior's  remains  were  carried  to  the  wizhi 
tapu — sacred  place,  amidst  the  mingled  din  of  the  maemae^  or 
funeral  dance,  the  dismal  tangiy  or  wail  for  the  dead,  and 
peals  of  musketry,  an  apt  termination  for  the  life  of  one  whose 
supreme  delight  was  war,  and  to  whose  ear  the  dying  groans 
of  his  enemies  were  the  sweetest  music* 

Tareha  was  a  great  Nga-puhi  Chief,  residing  at  the  Bay  of 
Islands,  and  the  largest  specimen  of  the  savage,  being  nearly 
seven  feet  high,  and  stout  in  proportion  ;  his  breasts  stood  out 
with  fatness,  more  like  those  of  a  female  than  of  a  man ;  his 
eyes  also  were  remarkably  prominent,  and  his  voice  extremely 
gruff;  he  seldom  wore  any  clothing  above  his  loins,  and  when 
seated,  appeared  like  a  huge  mass  of  flesh.  In  his  younger  days 
he  was  celebrated  for  his  courage,  cruelty,  and  cannibal  pro- 
pensities ;  yet  through  the  influence  of  Hongi,  he  was  always 
a  friend  and  protector  of  the  Missionaries,  although  he  paid 
no  attention  to  them  as  teachers,  and  lived  and  died  a  savage. 
On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  going  to  put  a  female  slave  to 
death  for  something  she  had  done,  close  to  Mr.  King's  house,  he 
natiurally  remonstrated  with  him,  and  endeavoured  to  hinder 
him  from  perpetrating  the  murder.  The  savage  could  not 
silence  his  determined  adversary,  neither  did  he  wish  to  injure 
him,  but  at  last,  losing  all  patience,  he  seized  the  poor  Mis- 
sionary, who  was  not  a  very  large  person,  and  putting  him 
under  his  arm,  walked  off  with  him  to  the  Mission-house, 
where  he  safely  deposited  him,  shutting  the  door,  and  bidding 
Mrs.  King  take  care  and  not  let  him  go  out  again,  lest  he 
should  eat  him  also.  On  another  occasion,  one  of  his  run- 
away slaves  took  refuge  in  the  Mission-house,  at  the  Kerikeri ; 
there  Tareha  went,  and,  in  apparent  fury,  threatened  to  kill 
him  at  once.  The  poor  fellow  thought  his  last  moment  was 
come,  and  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf.  Mr.  Kemp  went  to 
the  chief,  entreating  him  to  spare  the  slave's  life,  but  to  no 
purpose.  He  placed  in  the  Chiers  hand,  which  he  was  holding 
behind  him,  a  little  tobacco  ;  this  did  not  appease  him,  he  still 

See  Life  of  lUv.  S,  Leigh,  page  408. 


TAREHA.  317 

raged  more  vehemently,  shaking  his  hand  as  an  intimation 
that  it  was  not  enough.  Mr.  Kemp  then  added  a  shirt  as  a 
companion  to  the  tobacco ;  this  also  was  insufficient,  his  hand 
still  shaking  for  more.  At  last,  he  gave  a  blanket ;  immedi- 
ately he  felt  this  in  his  hand,  his  wrath  subsided,  his  tone 
changed,  and  he  not  only  granted  his  pardon,  but  bestowed 
the  youth  on  him.  On  one  occasion,  when  some  of  our 
Missionaries  were  going  up  the  Kerikeri  river,  they  were 
struck  with  sounds  of  lamentation.  On  landing,  they  found 
that  Tareha  had  got  a  fish-bone  in  his  throat,  and  was 
choking:  being  tapu,  no  one  dared  come  near  or  touch  his 
sacred  head.  But  one  of  the  Missionaries  immediately 
approached,  and  fortunately  having  a  pair  of  scissors  with 
him,  after  some  difficulty,  he  managed  to  extract  the  bone. 
In  about  half-an-hour,  the  Chief  had  so  far  recovered  as  to  be 
able  to  speak ;  and  to  the  amazement  of  the  kind  operator, 
who  had  thus,  in  all  probability,  saved  his  life,  the  first  words 
were  a  command  to  his  followers  to  seize  the  scissors  as  a 
payment  for  having  touched  his  sacred  throat.  The  Missionary, 
however,  managed  to  retain  possession  of  them,  although  they 
had  thus  been  forfeited  by  the  law  of  tapu. 

On  another  occasion,  a  boat's  crew  went  up  what  is  called 
Tareha's  River,  to  cut  wood,  leaving  one  man  to  take  care  of 
the  boat,  and  get  some  food  cooked  for  the  party  on  their 
return.  The  man  commenced  with  gathering  two  baskets  full 
of  oysters.  He  had  no  sooner  done  so,  than  up  came  Tareha, 
who  in  his  fierce  gruff  voice,  demanded  his  business  there,  at 
least  so  the  man  supposed,  being  totally  ignorant  of  the 
language ;  but  knowing  what  a  dreadful  cannibal  he  was,  and 
how  completely  he  was  in  his  power,  he  told  me  he  trembled 
in  every  joint,  thinking  his  last  moments  had  arrived.  Tareha 
repeated  his  savage  growl  in  a  louder  tone ;  the  man  thinking 
perhaps  that  it  was  the  cry  of  hunger,  thrust  before  him  one 
of  the  oysters  he  had  just  opened.  Tareha  swallowed  it,  and 
gave  another  growl ;  the  poor  fellow  hastily  opened  another, 
which  was  immediately  swallowed,  and  succeeded  by  a  growl ; 
and  thus  he  kept  opening  oysters,  which  the  other  as  quickly 
devoured,  until  the  whole  stock  was  almost  consumed,  when 


318  TAREHA. 

he  was  opportunely  rejoiced  with  the  sight  of  his  retumlDg 
comrades.  This  man,  many  years  afterwards,  told  me  the 
tale,  and  said  he  should  never  forget  his  horror  at  the  sight  of 
that  huge  savage,  and  the  soiuid  of  his  fearful  voice. 

In  after  times,  when  his  cannibal  feasts  were  well  nigh 
terminated,  and  lie  himself  pretty  well  advanced  in  years,  a 
whale  was  announced  as  having  been  thrown  up  on  the  coast 
near  his  abode ;  the  news  reached  him  on  a  Saturday  evening, 
and  fearful  lest  the  dainty  dish  should  be  consumed  by  others, 
he  gave  notice,  as  the  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  he  should 
go  and  guard  it  himself,  that  no  one  should  have  any  of  it 
until  the  Monday.  On  the  Monday,  I  had  the  curiosity  to 
go  and  see  the  huge  fish.  I  found  Tareha  encamped  close 
to  it,  and  a  large  assembly  of  natives  a  little  further  off, 
patiently  waiting,  I  suppose,  until  the  lion  had  taken  his 
share.  And  although  he  would  not  allow  others  to  partake 
of  it  during  the  Sabbath,  I  found  he  had  devoured  an  entire 
fin  himself.  When  I  paid  him  a  visit,  he  was  eating  potatoes, 
and  squeezing  a  large  lump  of  blubber  over  them  as  a  relish, 
the  putrid  oil  quite  tainting  the  air.* 

This  Chief  died  a  heathen ;  but  his  son  Te  Akira,  who  was 
also  of  large  proportions,  was  afterwards  baptized  by  the  name 
of  "  King  William." 

*  The  natives  are  not  so  susceptible  of  smell  as  we  are.  In  their  savage 
state,  putrid  substances  do  not  appear  to  be  nauseous  to  them,  but  they  become 
so  as  they  are  more  civilized,  and  assimilated  to  us  in  manners.  So  also,  in 
their  natural  state,  they  have  a  peculiar  odour,  which  is  very  perceptible  to 
sensitive  nostrils.  This  appears  common  to  all,  however  cleanly  in  their 
habits.  The  same  has  been  remarked  of  the  American  Indians;  and  it  is 
singular,  that  the  Christians  of  the  mcdiseval  ages,  thought  that  the  Infidels 
or  Saracens  had  a  similar  smell,  and  still  more,  that  they  should  have  pleaded 
guilty  to  the  charge;  and  further,  that  they  should  have  entertained  the  same 
idea  as  the  Christians,  that  it  was  lost  by  baptism.  The  early  traveUcrs  make 
frequent  mention  of  Saracens  bringing  their  children  to  be  baptized,  for  this 
wholesome  purpose.  Baptism,  however,  does  not  appear  so  efficacious  in  New 
Zealand.  Hue,  in  his  travels  through  China,  also  alludes  to  this,  and  states 
that  the  Chinese  have  naturally  a  strong  smell  of  musk. 


TB   HECHBU. 


or  all  the  New  Zealand  Chiefs,  there  has  not  been  a  more 
distinguished  one  than  Te  Heuhku,  the  head  Chief  of  Taupo, 
and  the  most  influential  native  in  the  interior  of  this  island. 
His  noble  figure  (for  he  stood  upwards  of  six  feet  high),  hia 
broad  chest,  his  good-natured  countenance,  his  white  locks, 
his  dignified  manner  as  be  sat  on  a  rock  in  front  of  his  house, 
like  a  king  on  his  throne,  surrounded  b;  his  tribe,  and  survey- 
ing his  dependents  at  their  work,  to  whom  he  repeatedly  issued 
his  commands  in  a  tone  which  compelled  obedience,  presented 
altogether  a  perfect  picture  of  the  savage  Chief.  His  great 
bravery  in  war,  his  eloquence  in  council,  his  perfect  acquaint- 
ance with  the  mythology  of  the  country,  his  being  a  Chief 
Priest  as  well,  tended  to  extend  his  influence  amongst  the 
New  Zealand  tribes,  and  caused  them  to  view  him  as  a  sacred 
character. 

Though  successful  in  war,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  de- 
lighted in  it  so  much  as  his  countrymen  generally  have  done. 
He  was  never  averse  to  making  peace.  In  1844,  he  visited 
the  little  settlement  of  Wanganui  with  a  war  party  of  about 
two  hundred,  intending  tu  fight  with  the  Waitotara  tribe,  and 
avenge  the  death  of  Kotuku-rae-roa,  Tauteka,  and  Te  Waka- 
rau,  great  Taupo  Chiefs,  who  were  killed  there  three  years 
before;  but,  being  reat-oned  with,  and  recommended  to  make 


320  TE  HEUHEU. 

peace,  he  said,  he  was  known  amongst  the  tribes  as  a  Chief 
who  could  make  peace  as  well  as  make  war.  He  listened  to 
the  advice,  and  returned  with  his  war  party  without  doing 
any  injury,  although  the  town  was  then  in  his  power,  and  its 
inhabitants  possessed  no  means  of  defence.  A  complaint  was 
made  against  one  of  his  men  for  stealing  a  poor  man's  coat* 
At  the  very  moment  this  was  being  made,  the  thief  approached 
in  a  canoe,  having  on  the  stolen  coat.  Te  Heuheu  seeing  him, 
rushed  upon  him  like  a  tiger,  threw  him  into  the  water,  and 
held  him  under  with  his  powerful  grasp,  until  he  was  nearly 
drowned,  and  then  pulled  the  coat  off  his  back  and  restored  it 
to  the  owner.  He  gave  another  proof  of  his  natural  peaceable 
disposition  by  erecting  a  house  for  a  neighbouring  Chief,  with 
whom  he  had  long  been  at  variance.  This  was  one  of  the 
noblest  specimens  of  native  architecture,  and  when  finished  he 
gave  it  the  expressive  name  of  ^*  Te  riri  ka  ware  ware^^  the 
burying  of  anger.  This  was  nearly  his  last  work.  He  was 
visited  by  ministers  of  various  denominations,  but  though  he 
received  all  with  great  respect,  he  yet  refused  to  give  up  the 
faith  of  his  forefathers,  and  when  one  exhorted  him  to  be  a 
member  of  his  peculiar  Church,  he  is  reported  to  have  said, 
"  When  you  foreigners  tell  me  of  so  many  different  roads,  and 
each  affirms  his  own  to  be  the  only  true  one,  how  can  I  decide  ? 
First  agree  amongst  yourselves  which  is  the  right  way,  and 
then  I  will  consider  whether  I  shall  take  it  or  not"  He, 
however,  accompanied  the  writer  of  this  sketch  to  see  the  most 
lovely  part  of  the  vale  in  which  he  lived,  and  said,  that  shall 
be  ta'pu  as  a  residence  for  a  Missionary,  if  one  should  be 
sent  him.  The  principal  residence  of  this  Chief  was  at  Te 
Rapa,  a  small  valley  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  Taupo 
Lake.  His  house  was  a  long  building,  nearly  forty  feet  in 
length ;  it  resembled  an  eight-stalled  stable,  each  compart- 
ment being  occupied  by  one  of  his  wives,  who  were  occasionally 
employed  weaving  mats,  whilst  he  sat  at  one  end  silently  re- 
garding their  labors. 

In  May,  1846,  a  remarkable  accident  (already  alluded  to) 
terminated  the  life  of  this  Chief,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  his 
wives,  and  of  all  his  children  who  were  then  living  with  him. 


TB  HEUHEtT.  321 

together  with  nearly  sixty  of  his  tribe.  An  unusually  rainy 
season  occasioned  a  large  land  slip  on  the  side  of  the  Kaka- 
ramea,  the  mountain  at  the  back  of  the  Rapa,  about  two 
miles'  distance  from  his  residence.  This  took  place  nearly 
2000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake,  at  the  gorge  of  a  Httle 
Alpine  valley,  through  which  a  considerable  stream  flowed, 
which,  being  thus  dammed  up,  in  three  days  formed  a  large 
and  deep  lake,  which  burst  its  barriers,  and,  with  irresistible 
force,  swept  rocks,  trees,  and  earth  with  it  into  the  lake.  The 
little  settlement  was  buried  with  all  its  inhabitants,  excepting 
a  few  solitary  individuals,  who,  aroused  from  their  sleep  by  the 
warning  roar  of  the  approaching  avalanche,  fled  to  the  neigh- 
bouring hills,  and  escaped.  One  of  the  survivors  states,  that 
Te  Heuheu  arose  from  his  bed,  (it  was  about  three  in  the 
morning,)  and  exhorted  a  Chief  who  was  his  guest  to  flee,  but 
both  remained.  He  said  it  was  a  taniwUf^  who  was  angry 
with  him  for  having  omitted  his  usual  offerings.  He,  there- 
fore, immediately  made  an  offering  of  food,  and  commenced  a 
supplicatory  prayer  to  the  angry  god,  and  whilst  thus  engaged 
was  overwhelmed.  The  once  fruitful  valley  of  Te  Rapa  was 
buried,  in  many  places  more  than  twenty  feet  deep ;  its  houses 
and  groves  were  swept  away,  and  nothing  was  left  to  mark 
that  it  had  once  been  the  abode  of  man,  but  a  solitary  swinging 
pole,  called  a  morere,  which,  with  a  few  feet  of  green  sward 
around  it,  singularly  enough  escaped. 

Te  Heuheu*s  brother  caused  the  body  of  the  Chief  to  be 
exhumed.  Nearly  one  hundred  natives  were  thus  employed, 
but  the  task  would  have  been  hopeless,  had  not  the  flood 
formed  a  deep  channel  near  his  house,  under  the  ruins  of 
which  he  was  found. 

When  I  read  the  burial  service  over  the  spot  where  the 
pa  stood,  accompanied  by  Wiremu  Tauri,  my  head  teacher, 
even  then  the  mud  was  so  soft  that  we  sunk  in  it  nearly 
ancle  deep.  It  was  a  solemn  moment ;  an  entire  village  laid 
buried  beneath  us,  with  all  its  inhabitants — the  young,  the 
old,  the  infant,  and  the  hoary-headed — all  in  one  awful  mo- 
ment were  deeply  entombed.    It  was  night  when  the  accident 

^  A  fish  god,  supposed  to  reside  in  lakes,  rivers,  and  under  mountains. 

Y 


occurred,  and  from  one  sleep  they  passed  into  another — the 
sleep  of  death. 

The  Chiefs  hody  was  kept  concealed,  according  to  the 
custom  with  great  ariki,  for  about  four  years;  it  was  thea 
exhumed,  and  laid  in  state,  dressed  in  the  finest  native 
garments,  and  placed  in  a  highly-oniamented  coffin,  which 
was  supported  on  a  pole,*  until  1850,  when  it  was  privately 
conveyed  to  Tongariro,  with  the  intention  of  being  thrown 
down  the  crater  of  that  volcano;  but  the  difficulty  of  the 
ascent  had  not  been  sufficiently  considered,  and  the  bearera 
were  contented  to  leave  it  on  a  ledge  of  rock,  which  projected 
from  the  side  of  the  mountain. 

*  See  r>>il«lt<,  pafte  32. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

TE  RAUPARAHA  AND  RANQIHABATA. 

Te  Rauparaha,  the  Chief  of  the  Nga  ti  raukawa,  was  bom 
at  Maungatautaii,  about  1770.  His  father,  in  one  of  the 
constant  wars  which  formerly  raged,  was  killed  and  eaten ;  he 
was  then  a  child.  His  savage  conqueror  said,  that  if  bis  infant 
son  fell  into  his  hands,  be  would  make  a  fine  relish  for  his 
rau  paraha,  which  is  a  thick-leafed  convolTolus,  growing 
on  tiie  sand  hills  near  the  sea,  and  formerly  used  as  food. 
Rauparaha,  or  convolvolus  leaf,  therefore,  hencefortli  became 
his  name. 

When   he  grew  up   to  manhood,   he  manifested   such  a 

troublesome  and  restless  disposition,  as  to  render  himself  an 

object  of  fear  and  dislike  to  his  neighbours,  and  even  to  his 

Y  2 


324         TB  RAUPARAHA  AND  RANGIHAEATA. 

own  relatives.  This  feeling,  was  increased  by  his  collecting 
around  him  a  band  of  the  most  worthless  characters,  whose 
constant  excesses  became  at  last  so  intolerable,  that  his  neigh- 
bours arose,  and  forcibly  expelled  him  from  their  tribe. 

The  first  exploit  attributed  to  Te  Rauparaha,  was  his 
cutting  off  a  Nga  Puhi  Chief,  Waero,  and  140  of  his  followers, 
on  Motu  Tawa,  a  small  island  in  Roto  Kakahi.  Leaving 
his  friends  there,  he  made  his  way  overland  to  Taupo  and 
Rotoaira*  The  people  of  Motuapuhi  sought  to  kill  him,  but 
one  of  the  Chiefs  became  his  friend,  and  hid  him  in  a  food-store, 
until  he  could  make  his  escape.  He  reached  the  Wanganui, 
and  thence  returned  to  Kawhia,  where  he  gained  the  aid  of 
Tuwhare  and  his  tribe,  who  thenceforth  assumed  the  conunand 
until  his  death,  when  Rauparaha  succeeded  him.  They 
attacked  the  Taranaki  natives,  and  took  their  stronghold, 
Tapuanikau.  At  Tihoi  they  erected  a  pa,  and  remained  there 
some  time.  On  reaching  the  Wanganui,  they  encamped  at 
the  heads  for  nearly  a  month,  making  moki,  or  canoes  of 
the  raupo  leaf,  at  Kokohuia.  They  then  quickly  crossed  the 
river,  and  attacked  the  natives  at  Purua.  The  pa  was  taken, 
and  about  forty  men  killed. 

Tuwhare  and  his  party  proceeded  along  the  coast  as  far  as 
Wairarapa,  where  they  killed  the  Chief,  Rore. 

In  returning,  Tuwhare  noticed  the  wreck  of  a  vessel,  which 
made  him  think  that  Cook's  Straits  would  eventually  become 
a  place  of  great  resort  for  the  Europeans.  He  therefore 
advised  Te  Rauparaha  that  they  should  go  back  to  Elawhia, 
and  raise  as  large  a  force  as  possible,  and  then  take  permanent 
possession  of  the  Straits.  Hitherto  they  had  merely  destroyed 
the  pas,  for  the  sake  of  plunder.  Rauparaha  entered  into  the 
views  of  Tuwhare;  they  therefore  went  to  Kawhia,  and 
having  there  raised  a  large  force,  again  returned.  On  reaching 
Putiki  pa,  at  Wanganui,  they  were  received  very  hospitably  by 
a  few  women,  its  only  inhabitants,  their  husbands  being  ab- 
sent ;  food  was  cooked  for  them.  Afterwards  they  arose  and 
slew  their  entertainers,  and  then  pursued  their  journey 
south.  The  natives  hearing  of  their  coming,  took  care  to 
remove  themselves  and  their  property  inland.   The  party  took 


T£  RAUPARAHA  AND  RANOIHABATA;  325 

up  their  abode  at  Ohau,  and  there  they  murdered  some  of  the 
Horowheuua  natives.  This  was  the  commencement  of  the 
war;  from  his  post  at  Horowhenua,  Te  Rauparaha  made 
repeated  raids  against  Manawatu.  The  Horowhenua  natives 
being  ignorant  of  his  former  murders,  brought  him  presents 
of  foody  but  he  slew  the  bearers  of  them.  When  their  tribe* 
the  Moa  Upoko,  heard  of  his  treachery,  they  raised  a  war 
party  of  300  men,  and  surprised  Rauparaha,  killing  100  of 
his  followers,  and  compelling  him  to  flee  to  Waikanae.  The 
Horowhenua  made  common  cause  with  the  Nga  ti  apa,  who 
came  and  fought  at  Waimea,  where  they  slew  Huna,  the  Chief; 
Te  Pehi  and  the  Ngatitoa  were  conquered,  and  they  lost  100 
men.  The  daughter  also  of  Pehi  was  killed  and  cooked ;  her 
body  was  carried  in  a  taha  (a  bark  basket)  to  Wanganui,  and 
there  eaten.  Rauparaha's  own  gun  fell  into  their  hands,  being 
taken  by  (Ptwra)  Turanga  pito. 

This  success  excited  the  hopes  of  Rauparaha's  enemies.  A 
force  of  3000  men  went  against  him,  collected  from  all  the 
places  on  the  coast.  They  reached  Waimea,  the  scene  of  their 
former  success.  Turoa  gave  the  hatchet  to  Turanga  pito,  to  go 
and  murder  Te  Rauparaha.  This  great  force,  however,  was 
conquered  by  the  Ngatitoa  and  Ngatiawa.  The  battle  was 
fought  on  the  island  of  Eapiti.  Rangi  mairehau,  the  Chief 
of  Turakina,  went  to  Rangihaeata,  being  a  relative  of  his  by 
marriage,  expecting  to  be  spared ;  but  that  Chief  cast  him  on 
the  fire,  and  roasted  him  alive.  With  this  exception,  he  used 
his  victory  with  moderation,  and  made  peace  with  the  tribes 
who  had  fought  against  them. 

Pehi  felt  deeply  the  loss  of  his  child,  and  determined  on 
taking  signal  revenge ;  but  to  do  it  effectually,  it  was  necessary 
to  have  a  larger  supply  of  guns  and  ammunition  ;  for  although 
it  was  by  their  guns  they  had  hitherto  prevailed — the  tribes 
they  fought  with  not  having  any — ^yet  even  their  supply  was 
insufficient ;  he  therefore  resolved  to  imitate  Hungi,  and  go 
to  England.  Shortly  after  the  battle,  a  vessel  came  to  Cook's 
Straits.     Pehi  immediately  went  on  board,  and  sailed  in  it. 

From  this  time,  Rauparaha  and  his  restless  companions 
appear  to  have  been  constantly  at  war.     After  a  series  of 


326  TE  RATJFARAHA  AND  RANOIHASATA. 

engagements,  he  entirely  destroyed  the  Moa  Upoko  tribe,  and 
took  possession  of  their  district.  A  war  expedition  was  under- 
taken against  Wanganui;  but  finding  the  natives  prepared,  they 
did  not  attack  them,  but  returned  and  fought  with  the  Nga  ti 
apa,  at  Rangitikei.  Encouraged  by  their  success  there,  they 
returned  to  Wanganui,  and  fought  with  the  natives,  when  one 
of  the  Nga  te  rau  kawa  Chiefs  was  killed,  which  made  Rau- 
paraha  very  indignant. 

The  visits  of  vessels  now  became  very  frequent,  and  they 
gave  power  and  importance  to  Te  Rauparaha,  who  managed 
to  monopolize  the  entire  trade  with  them,  and  to  become  the 
sole  channel  by  which  others  obtained  their  supplies  of 
European  goods.  Various  tribes  sent  him  presents  of  food. 
Te  Heuheu,  the  great  Chief  of  Taupo,  collected  a  large 
quantity  of  provisions,  and  brought  them  to  him.  Many 
tribes,  of  their  own  accord,  grew  food  for  his  use ;  he,  in 
return,  sent  them  presents  of  rum,  tobacco,  powder,  and  guns. 
He  continually  increased  in  influence — all  but  Nga  ti  rua  nui 
and  Taranaki,  courted  his  alliance.  Still  Rauparaha  con- 
tinued his  wars.  He  sent  two  expeditions  against  Wanganui, 
one  under  Watanui,  which  fought  at  Rangipo,  and  there  Nga 
ti  ruaka  fell.  Rauparaha  nextat  tacked  Putiki,  and  killed  many 
of  its  inhabitants  (some  of  their  bones  laid  whitening  on  its 
plains  when  I  first  went  there,  which  I  collected  and  buried). 
To  revenge  this  reverse,  Wanganui  raised  a  war  party,  and 
attacked  Pakakutu.  A  meteor  fell  into  the  pa  whilst  they 
were  fighting,  which  was  considered  such  a  favorable  omen  for 
the  besiegers,  that  the  defenders  were  disheartened,  and  the 
place  was  taken.  Rauparaha  was  henuned  in  on  every  side, 
and  narrowly  escaped  being  captured. 

About  this  time,  Pehi  returned  from  England,  having 
obtained  from  the  thoughtless  kindness  of  those  who  there 
saw  him,  a  large  collection  of  guns  and  ammunition. 

Kekeriuga,  a  noble-looking  Chief,  who  was  celebrated  for 
his  very  fine  moko^  had  gone  to  reside  at  Arapawa,  where  he 
was  murdered  by  the  Ngaitahu.  Being  a  great  favorite  of 
Rangihaeata,  although  he  had  fled  on  account  of  his  not  having 
conducted  himself  with  propriety  towards  that  Chief  *s  wives. 


TE  RAUPAKAHA  AND  BANOIHABATA.  327 

Rangihaeata  sought  satisfaction  for  his  death ;  he  fought  with 
the  NgaitahUy  and  killed  a  great  number  of  them. 

Pehi  went  to  see  Tamai  hara  nui  at  the  Waharaupo,  where 
Hakitara,  a  Ngapuhi  Chiefs  with  a  number  of  his  tribe,  was 
staying.  This  Chief  remembering  the  death  of  Wairo  at 
Rotokakahiy  persuaded  Tamai  hara  nui  to  let  them  murder 
Pehi,  as  a  payment  for  it ;  he  consented.  Pehi  and  forty  of  his 
companions,  all  great  Chiefs,  were  murdered,  although  they 
were  the  friends  of  Tamai  hara  nui,  and  then  his  guests. 
Rauparaha  himself  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  He  was  pur- 
sued, and  finding  his  canoe  was  near  being  overtaken,  when 
he  had  rounded  a  point  he  jumped  into  the  sea,  and  dived  a 
considerable  distance ;  then  coming  up  beneath  a  mass  of  float- 
ing sea  weed,  he  remained  a  long  time  with  only  his  mouth 
above  the  water,  until  his  bafiled  pursuers  gave  up  their 
search.  He  safely  reached  Klapiti,  with  a  full  determination 
of  having  an  ample  revenge  for  these  treacherous  murders,  and 
circumstances  too  soon  gave  him  the  longed-for  opportunity. 

On  the  arrival  of  a  vessel  called  the  Elizabeth,  commanded 
by  a  fellow  named  Stewart,  who  came  to  trade  for  flax, 
Te  Rauparaha  oflered  to  give  him  a  full  cargo,  provided 
he  would  convey  him,  with  a  hundred  of  his  followers,  to 
Waharaupo.  Influenced  by  the  hope  of  gain,  Stewart  lent 
himself  as  an  instrument  to  accomplish  the  will  of  these 
savages ;  they  embarked,  and  he  sailed  direct  to  the  abode  of 
Tamai  hara  nui.  The  Captain  sent  a  youth  named  Cowell* 
in  the  boat  to  invite  him  to  come  on  board  and  see  his  cargo ; 
he  asked  if  they  had  got  any  natives  in  the  ship,  and  was 
answered,  No  ;  they  had  come  direct  from  the  Bay.  Tamai 
hara  nui  remarked  a  small  burr  (pirikahu)  sticking  to  their 
garments,  and  said,  How  came  it  there,  if  you  have  come  so 
far.  At  last,  however,  he  was  persuaded,  and  fell  into  the 
snare ;  he  went  on  board,  and  was  taken  down  into  the  Cap- 
tain's cabin.  The  natives  concealed  themselves  in  the  hold. 
When  Te  Hiko,  the  son  of  Pehi,  entered  the  cabin,  he  stared 
fixedly  at  Tamai  hara  nui,  for  nearly  half-an-hour,  without 

*  This  man  is  still  living :  he  married  a  native  woman,  has  a  large  fiunily, 
and  is  now  residing  on  the  Waipa. 


S28  TS   BAUPARAHA  AND  RANOIHAEATA. 

saying  a  word  ;  he  then  approached,  and  drew  back  the  upper 
lip  of  the  captive  Chief,  and  said,  those  are  the  teeth  which 
ate  my  father.  When  the  Chief  found  he  had  been  inveigled  on 
board,  and  thus  fallen  into  the  hands  of  his  deadly  enemies,  he 
sent  for  his  wife  and  daughter,  that,  as  he  said,  he  might  not  go 
to  the  Reinga  alone :  they  promptly  obeyed,  and  came  on  board. 

During  the  night,  Tamai  hara  nui  strangled  his  daughter, 
a  very  beautiful  girl,  that  she  might  not  be  a  -slave ;  and 
Stewart,  horrified  at  this  unnatural  crime,  without  perceiving 
his  own  greater  one,  ordered  the  Chief  to  be  tied  up  and 
flogged,  which  act  offended  even  his  savage  captors,  who  said 
he  was  still  a  Chief,  and  not  to  be  treated  as  a  slave. 

The  following  day,  Rauparaha  landed  his  men,  and  after  a 
brave  resistance,  the  pa  was  taken,  and  a  great  number  were 
slaughtered.  They  returned  to  the  vessel,  laden  with  five 
hundred  baskets  of  human  flesh,  which  the  Captain  professed 
to  believe  was  only  pork ;  some  say,  that  human  flesh  was 
cooked  in  the  ship*s  coppers,  and  it  is  not  improbable  it  was 
so,  as  the  vessel  was  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  natives ; 
this,  however,  was  denied  ;  at  any  rate,  the  vessel  must  have 
been  a  regular  shambles  of  human  flesh,  and  very  offensive 
from  such  a  quantity  being  on  board,  for  they  were  four  days 
in  reaching  Kapiti.  On  landing,  the  Chief  Tamai  hara  nui 
was  given  up  to  Te  Aia,  the  widow  of  Pehi,  who  took  him, 
with  his  wife  and  sister,  to  her  own  house,  giving  up  half  to 
their  use.  They  talked  so  friendly  to  one  another,  and  she 
behaved  so  kindly  to  him,  that  a  stranger  would  have  taken 
them  for  man  and  wife  rather  than  a  doomed  captive  with  his 
implacable  enemy.  She  used  even  to  clothe  him  in  her  finest 
garments,  and  deck  his  head  with  choice  feathers ;  this  con- 
tinued for  about  two  weeks,  until  either  she  had  assembled 
her  friends,  or  thought  her  victim  sufficiently  fat  for  killing. 
She  then  suddenly  caused  him  to  be  seized  and  bound,  with 
his  arms  stretched  to  a  tree,  and  whilst  in  this  position,  she 
took  a  spear,  a  long  narrow  rod  of  iron,  with  which  she 
stabbed  him  in  the  jugular  artery,  and  drank  his  warm  blood 
as  it  gushed  forth,  placing  her  mouth  to  the  orifice ;  he  was 
afterwards  cooked  and  eaten. 


T£  &AUPARAHA  AND  RANOIHABATA.         329 

Stewart  received  twenty-five  tons  of  flax  for  this  infamous 
service^  the  price  of  blood,  and  might  have  had  more,  but  he 
would  not  stay  for  it.  A  captain  of  some  vessel,  then  also  at 
Klapiti,  who  is  said  to  have  been  but  little  better,  sailed  before 
him,  and  carried  the  news  to  Sydney,  so  that  on  his  arrival 
there,  he  was  shunned,  and  styled  by  all — the  Captain  of  the 
bloody  Elizabeth  ;  he  was  even  taken  up  and  tried ;  from  want 
of  evidence,  however,  or  from  some  flaw  in  the  indictment,  he 
escaped.  But  though  human  vengeance  did  not  reach  him. 
Divine  justice  did.  Nothing  was  ever  heard  of  him  afterwards. 
The  vessel  was  supposed  to  have  foundered  on  the  way  to 
Valparaiso,  and  all  on  board  perished. 

Tute  ou  nuku,  the  son  of  Tama  hara  nui,  too  weak  to  con- 
tend with  Te  Rauparaha  alone,  went  to  the  great  Chief  of  the 
Ngaitahu,  commonly  called  Bloody  Jack,  and  solicited  his  aid 
to  punish  the  murderers  of  his  parents.  The  Chief  thought 
so  good  a  pretext  for  war  was  not  to  be  neglected  by  one  to 
whose  feelings  it  was  so  congenial ;  a  laige  force  was,  there- 
fore, speedily  raised,  and  a  suitable  opportunity  soon  occurred, 
when  Bauparaha  was  busily  engaged  snaring  the  putangi  tangi 
(Paradise  ducks)  at  Kaparatehau  Lake,  with  a  party  of  his 
tribe,  having  all  their  canoes  drawn  up  high  on  the  beach, 
except  one.  The  enemy  came  upon  them  so  suddenly, 
that  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  Rauparaha  and  about 
forty  men,  women,  and  children  escaped  to  the  canoe,  and 
pushed  off,  all  the  rest  were  slain ;  but  being  encumbered  with 
so  many,  they  made  little  way.  Rauparaha,  therefore,  com- 
pelled about  half  the  number  to  jump  overboard,  and  those 
who  refused  were  thrown  into  the  sea  by  force.  The  canoe, 
thus  lightened,  made  way,  and  though  hotly  pursued,  they 
escaped,  and  reached  Kapiti.  But  this  restless  Chief  must 
have  his  revenge.  He,  therefore,  lost  no  time  in  raising  a 
force.  He  visited  the  Nga  ti  awa,  and  solicited  their  aid, 
which  was  given ;  they  immediately  embarked,  and  sailed  for 
the  Karaka,  adjoining  to  which  is  a  bay  called  Orau  moa, 
completely  shut  in  by  the  promontory  Karaka  at  one  ex- 
tremity, and  by  another  at  the  other,  ¥dth  lofty  cliffi  between. 
Here  Bloody  Jack,  with  the  Ngaitahu,  were  encamped.    One 


330  TE  BAUPARAHA  AND  RAHGIHAEATA. 

hundred  and  forty  of  the  Ngatiawa  let  themselves  down 
the  cliff,  but  were  all  cut  off.  In  the  morning  Bloody  Jack 
went-  on  his  way,  and  Te  Rauparaha  did  not  think  proper  to 
follow  him ;  he  returned  to  Cloudy  Bay.  When  Bloody  Jack 
and  his  party  embarked,  the  canoe  of  Tute  ou  nuku  was 
capsized,  and  he  was  drowned;  all  the  men  in  it  however  were 
saved.  When  the  Chief  saw  them,  he  was  so  indignant  that 
they  could  save  themselves,  and  yet  suffer  their  young  Chief 
to  be  drowned,  that  he  killed  them  all. 

Puoho,  the  Chief  of  Nga-ti-tama,  and  Priest  to  Rauparaha, 
conducted  a  small  war  party  of  forty,  and  went  by  the  West 
Coast,  instead  of  the  Kaikoura,  to  war  with  the  people  living 
on  that  side.  His  road  was  by  Waka-tu  (Nelson).  He  reached 
a  small  place,  which  he  took,  killing  some  and  putting  to  flight 
others.  The  news  of  this  attack  was  carried  to  Taiaroa,  the 
head  Chief  of  the  place ;  he  and  Bloody  Jack  lost  no  time  in 
going  there  with  a  party  of  about  a  hundred.  Their  wish  was 
not  to  kill  Puoho,  for  whom  they  had  a  regard,  but  merely  to 
take  him  prisoner,  and  spare  his  men.  Puoho  and  his  party 
slept  in  two  houses,  but  he  himself  was  outside  in  the  verandah. 
Taiaroa  told  his  men  to  try  and  capture  him  alive ;  Puoho, 
however,  would  not  yield,  he  fought  bravely  all  night  with  the 
enemy.  At  last  one  of  the  party  got  on  a  house,  and  shot 
him.  Hitherto  they  had  not  used  their  guns,  wishing  to  save 
them.  When  this  was  done,  Taiaroa  pulled  off  his  cap  and 
threw  it  on  the  roof  of  the  house  to  make  it  tapu,  and  said, 
here  let  the  fight  cease,  and  made  peace.  He  had  the  head 
of  Puoho  cut  off  as  a  mokai,  a  sign  of  regard,  and  caused  his 
body  to  be  buried ;  but  when  they  left,  the  people  of  the  place 
who  had  fled  dug  it  up  and  ate  it. 

In  the  morning,  Taiaroa  and  Bloody  Jack  returned,  taking 
Wakapiri,  the  son  of  Puoho,  with  them  as  a  slave ;  he  treated 
him,  however,  as  his  son,  and  afterwards  dismissed  him  with 
a  handsome  present  of  two  green-stone  mere,  and  a  piece  of 
land,  as  an  atonement  for  his  father's  death.  This  was  the 
end  of  the  war,  and  from  that  period  another  power  began  to 
be  felt,  which  soon  made  a  remarkable  change  in  that  part  of 
the  country. 


TB  &AXTPABAHA  AND  RANOIHASATA.  331 

A  Missionary  had  been  located  at  Kapiti,  brought  by  Rau- 
paraha's  own  son,  and  he  sent  that  young  Chief  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  Taiaroa,  and  peace  and  tranquillity  ensued.  *  This 
great  change  was  thus  effected. 

Some  of  the  young  Chiefs  had  begun  to  be  disgusted  with 
war ;  amongst  these  were  Tamihana  Katu  and  Matene  te  Whi- 
whi  o  te  Rangiy  the  former  being  the  son  of  Te  Rauparaha, 
the  latter  the  nephew^  the  two  most  influential  young  Chiefs 
of  their  respective  tribes.  They  determined  to  terminate  these 
continual  wars.  Having  heard  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
in  the  north,  and  that  it  was  putting  an  end  to  fighting  there, 
they  resolved  to  go  themselves  to  the  Bay  of  Islands,  and 
obtain  a  Missionary  for  their  end  of  the  island — a  very  bold 
and  hazardous  undertaking ;  for  the  Ngapuhi  were  their  sworn 
enemies ;  on  account  of  their  Chief,  Te  Wairo,  whose  death 
had  not  been  forgotten ;  the  recollection  of  it  caused  the 
death  of  Pehi,  and  many  of  their  Chiefs  at  Waharaupo.  Still, 
they  determined  to  go,  and  much  honor  is  due  to  them  for 
doing  so,  for  even  their  own  parents  were  opposed  to  the  step. 
Embarked  in  a  whaling  vessel,  they  safely  reached  the  Bay 
of  Islands.  This  was  in  1839.  Their  arrival  was  most  oppor- 
tune, and  evidently  timed  by  Providence,  for  when  their 
request  was  refused  from  the  inability  of  sparing  one  from  the 
little  Missionary  band,  or  the  unwillingness  of  any  to  proceed 
to  so  savage  a  part,  the  two  young  Chiefs  declared,  they 
would  not  return  without  one,  and  their  constancy  was  re- 
warded; for  whilst  they  thus  persisted  in  staying,  a  fresh 
Missionary  arrived,  who  had  been  detained  in  New  South 
Wales  by  Mr.  Marsden  to  occupy  a  vacant  post  there. 
Now,  said  they,  the  Lord  has  sent  another  laborer  and  his 
family,  one  must  be  spared  for  us.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hadfield, 
who  then  assisted  in  conducting  the  Missionary  school  at  the 
Waimate,  volunteered  to  go.  Satisfied  with  this  promise,  they 
returned  home,  and  were  speedily  followed  by  their  new 
teacher,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  H.  Williams,  the  senior 
ministier,  in  the  Missionary  schooner  Columbine,  As  ther^ 
were  two  great  tribes  living  within  twelve  miles  of  each  other, 
the  Missionary  wisely  had  a  house  erected  in  each  pa,  where 


332         TE  BAUPABAHA  AND  RANGIHAEATA. 

he  alternately  resided,  and  with  much  patience  and  persever- 
ance, love  and  zeal,  he  persisted,  firmly  supported  by  the 
young  Chiefs,  who  lent  all  their  influence  to  further  his 
labors,  so  that  soon  the  hymn  was  heard  instead  of  the 
haka;  and  the  hand  grasped  the  Gospel  of  Peace,  instead 
of  the  deadly  gim. 

In  1840,  The  Tory  arrived,  bearing  the  first  settlers  sent 
out  by  the  recently-formed  New  Zealand  Company.  Men  of 
family  and  fortune  came  in  this  ship,  captivated  by  the  glow- 
ing accounts  of  New  Zealand,  published  by  the  Company, 
which  said,  all  was  now  peace,  and  cannibalism  only  lived  in 
remembrance.  Had  the  passengers  in  that  vessel,  however, 
known,  they  might  have  seen  a  column  of  smoke  curling  up 
above  the  trees  of  Porirua,  where  they  were  then  cooking  a 
cannibal  repast.  Some  time  previously  to  the  arrival  of  The 
Tory^  a  Captain  Cherry  was  murdered  by  a  Porirua  native. 
When  the  people  saw  that  vessel,  they  mistook  it  for  a  man- 
of-war,  and  fancied  it  came  to  demand  satisfaction  for  the 
murder ;  they,  therefore,  determined  to  take  payment  them- 
selves beforehand,  to  show  the  English  they  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  crime.  It  appears  that  poor  Captain  Cherry's  feet 
had  been  held  down  by  a  slave,  whilst  his  master  killed  him. 
Maori  justice  fell  on  the  former — he  was  killed  and  eaten, 
whilst  his  guilty  master  escaped. 

The  New  Zealand  Company  made  land  purchases  in  various 
parts  of  the  straits  at  Taranaki,  Wanganui,  Port  Nicholson, 
and  Nelson ;  but,  unfortunately,  not  being  acquainted  with 
the  sub-divisions  of  property  or  the  language,  they  fancied 
they  were  purchasing  far  more  than  the  natives  either  intended 
to  sell  or  possessed  the  power  of  parting  with.  The  vague  and 
unsatisfactory  way  in  which  these  purchases  were  made,  were 
productive  of  serious  evils,  constant  disputes  arose,  the  claims 
were  disallowed,  and  the  settlement  of  the  land  delayed.  It 
is  not  necessary  now  to  resuscitate  the  remembrance  of  them. 

Hitherto  Rauparaha  had  lived  on  terms  of  amity  ¥dth  the 
Europeans.  He  derived  his  strength  in  a  great  measure  from 
that  intercourse,  and  therefore  it  was  his  interest  still  to  main- 
tain it.     He  now  came  into  collision  with  the  settlers.     The 


TE  BAUPARAHA   AND  RANOIHASATA.  333 

subject  is  a  painful  one,  and  fain  would  I  pass  by  it  unnoticed; 
but  this  cannot  be  done.  The  views  taken  on  the  subject  vaiy. 
The  fight  at  Wairau  has  been  differently  described.  The 
following  account  is  chiefly  from  the  lips  of  a  native  who  had 
no  sentiments  in  common  with  those  concerned;  and  as  he 
received  it  from  one  who  was  in  that  encoimter,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  an  imparcial  narrative;  and  also  explains  some 
points  which  were  before  inexplicable. 

It  conmiences  with  stating,  thht  an  angry  feeling  was  excited 
in  the  breast  of  Rangihaeata,  on  account  of  the  result  of  a 
trial.  A  native  woman  was  supposed  to  have  been  murdered 
by  some  European,  and  there  appears  much  reason  to  think 
the  supposition  was  correct;  still,  there  was  not  sufficient 
evidence  to  convict  him :  he  therefore  escaped.  This  woman 
was  a  connexion  of  Rangihaeata,  and  he  viewed  the  acquit- 
tal of  the  accused  as  a  sign  of  the  judge^s  partiality  towards 
a  countryman,  and  could  not  forget  it.  Shortly  after- 
wards it  was  told  him  that  the  Europeans  were  survejring 
the  Wairau  Valley.  He  exclaimed  with  indignation,  this  is 
the  second  time  they  have  wounded  me ;  they  murdered  my 
relative,  and  now  they  are  taking-my  land  ;  they  are  seeking  a 
quarrel  with  me.  The  Company  professed  to  have  bought 
the  Wairau,  but  the  natives  disallowed  the  purchase.  He 
therefore  went  and  told  Te  Rauparaha  his  uncle,  and  said. 
Let  us  go  and  send  the  surveyors  back  to  Nelson,  to  the 
place  which  they  have  really  bought ;  but  Wairau  I  shall  not 
part  with.  They  therefore  crossed  over  the  Straits*  and  com- 
manded the  surveyors  to  leave,  as  the  land  was  not  sold.  The 
Europeans  said  it  was.  Who  then,  answered  Rangihaeata, 
could  sell  my  land  ?  They  said  it  had  been  sold  by  other  natives. 
He  denied  having  had  anything  to  do  with  the  sale.  They 
replied,  It  did  not  signify  whether  he  had  or  not ;  the  land 
was  theirs.  This  greatly  exasperated  the  chief.  He  ordered 
his  men  to  take  all  the  things  belonging  to  the  surveyors  out 
of  the  temporary  building  they  had  erected,  and  to  be  careful 
and  leave  nothing  belonging  to  them  in  the  house,  and  then 
commanded  them  to  set  it  on  fire.  The  Europeans  threatened 
Rangihaeata,  and  told  him  he  would  be  hung. 


334  TE   BAUPARAHA   AND   RANGIHAEATA. 

The  Chief  then  visited  one  of  his  cultivations  on  the  Wairau ; 
and  the  Europeans  returned  to  Nelson^and  made  the  Company's 
agents  acquainted  with  all  that  had  taken  place.  A  warrant 
was  at  once  issued  by  the  police  magistrate  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Te  Rangihaeata  and  Te  Rauparaha«  The  magistrate 
himself.  Captain  Wakefield,  the  Company's  agent,  a  Captain 
England,  and  several  other  chief  settlers,  mth  some  constables, 
about  thirty  altogether,  went  to  execute  the  warrant.  When 
they  reached  the  Wairau,  they  found  the  natives  encamped  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river ;  they  called  for  a  canoe  to  cross 
in,  and  one  was  immediately  furnished  them.  On  reaching  the 
spot  where  the  natives  were  sitting,  the  magistrate  demanded 
of  the  chiefs  their  reason  for  burning  the  surveyors'  hut  ?  They 
replied,  they  had  no  business  on  land  which  did  not  belong  to 
them,  and  which  had  not  been  sold.  The  magistrate  was 
extremely  angry,  and  said,  you  have  done  very  wrong  to  bum 
the  house.  Rangihaeata  replied,  there  was  nothing  English 
in  it ;  the  toetoe^  or  flags  of  which  it  was  built,  and  the  poles 
were  all  taken  from  my  own  land ;  there  was  not  a  single  stick 
of  it  English ;  everything  belonging  to  the  surveyors  he  had 
caused  to  be  carefully  removed  outside  the  house,  because 
he  well  knew  how  fond  the  Europeans  were  of  law ;  and  so 
truly  you  have  come  to  try  me  for  my  toetoe.  If,  indeed,  you 
had  bought  the  land,  that  would  have  been  quite  right,  but 
this  is  a  foolish  affair  altogether.  This  greatly  incensed  the 
magistrate,  who  cried  to  Te  Rangihaeata,  and  said,  the  Euro- 
peans would  soon  hang  him.  The  chiefs  did  not  understand 
the  threat,  until  a  woman  who  could  speak  English  explained 
it  to  them.  Rangihaeata  replied.  Very  well,  hang  me  on  my 
own  land.  My  relative  was  killed  by  you  English,  and  there- 
fore you  may  as  well  kill  me  also  upon  my  land.  You  told 
me  no  European  could  go  on  land  not  belonging  to  him,  yet  I 
now  see  the  European  is  false — he  takes  land  not  belonging  to 
him.  I  am  to  be  hung,  but  you  are  not.  The  magistrate, 
more  incensed,  cried  to  his  followers  fire,  a  gun  went  off,  and 
shot  a  woman  of  Rangihaeata.  Then  Rawiripuaha  exclaimed, 
now  the  law  for  us  is  clear.  Tamai  hengia  ran  to  the  place 
where  their  guns  were  laid,  and  Rangihaeata  went  away  fit)m 


TB  RATJPARAHA  AND  RANOIHAEATA.  335 

fear ;  but  Te  Rauparaha  turned  and  said,  "  Ka  awe  te  mamae,* 
(a  chiefs  exclamation  before  battle — alas !  the  pain).  Te  Oro 
ran  with  his  hatchet,  and  threw  it  at  one  of  the  Europeans, 
who  fell  into  the  river.  The  Europeans  tumbled  one  over  the 
other  into  the  canoe  in  trying  to  cross ;  those  who  succeeded 
in  getting  over  first,  escaped;  the  last  fell  into  the  natives* 
hands.  Captain  Wakefield  and  all  the  gentlemen  were  taken. 
They  were  not  killed,  but  when  Rangihaeata  returned,  he  bid 
them  kill  all,  as  a  payment  for  their  relative  the  woman ;  for 
he  said  that  he  had  been  told  in  all  the  European  battles,  they 
never  injured  women ;  therefore,  let  them  die  as  a  payment — 
all  were  killed.  They  then  embarked  in  their  canoe,  and 
crossed  over  to  Otaki. 

This  melancholy  event  caused  deep  gloom  to  rest  on  the 
little  settlement  of  Nelson,  and  for  a  time  retarded  its  progress. 
On  the  arrival  of  Governor  Fitzroy,  at  Waikanae,  he  sum- 
moned Te  Rauparaha  and  Rangihaeata  to  meet  him.     He 
heard  their  statement,  and  having  previously  been  acquainted 
with  that  of  the  settlers,  he  reproved  them  for  their  cruelty  in 
putting  their  prisoners  to  death,  after  they  had  surrendered ; 
but  told  them  that  as  the  proceeding  of  the  settlers,   and 
especially  of  the  police  magistrate,  was  altogether  unjustifiable 
and  illegal,  he  should  not  demand  satisfaction  for  it ;  but  he 
solemnly  warned  them  to  beware  for  the  future.     It  is  a  pity 
the  Governor  was  not  acquainted  with  native  customs ;  other- 
wise he  would  have  claimed  the  district  as  having  been  paid  for 
¥dth  blood ;  this  was  what  the  Chiefs  themselves  expected.    It 
would  have  asserted  our  power,  and  made  a  salutary  impression 
on  the  native  mind,  for  it  is  a  fixed  custom  amongst  themselves, 
and  in  after  years,  when  the  Middle  Island  was  sold  by  Taia- 
roa  and  the  descendants  of  Tamaiharanui,  Rangihaeata  himself 
demanded  part  of  the  payment  for  the  blood  of  his  relatives 
Pehi  and  his  companions,  who  were  murdered  at  Waharaupo, 
and  their  claims  were  allowed  by  Governor  Grey. 

The  not  doing  so,  made  that  Chief  entertain  a  very  low 

opinion  of  British  power.     He  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  He 

paukena  te  pakehuj' — The  Governor  is  soft ;  he  is  a  pumpkin. 

After  the  Wairau  affair,  Rangihaeata  went  up  the  Rangi- 


336  TE   RAUPARAHA    AND   RANOIHABATA. 

tikei.  Two  Wanganui  Chiefs  pursued  after  him,  and  had 
they  not  been  dissuaded  by  others,  would  certainly  have  taken 
him  prisoner,  and  given  him  up  to  the  Governor,  for  they  had 
no  love  for  him. 

When  the  disturbances  three  years  later  broke  out  in  the 
Hutti  he  went  and  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the*  hostile 
natives.  Rauparaha  remained  neutral,  but  having  so  many 
of  his  relatives  engaged  in  the  war,  who  in  the  native  style 
continued  to  hold  intercourse  with  him^  he  was  suspected,  and 
the  Governor  ordered  the  Captain  of  the  Calliope  to  seize  him, 
which  was  no  difficult  matter,  as  he  continued  to  reside  in  his 
house  close  to  the  sea-shore.  A  boat's  crew  quietly  landed 
one  evening,  and  carried  him  back  with  them  to  the  ship. 

Although  an  old  man,  Rangihaeata  accompanied  the  natives 
in  all  their  skirmishes,  and  lived  with  them  in  the  depth  of  the 
forest,  and  in  their  fastnesses.  Before  he  left  Porirua,  (travel- 
ling at  that  time  being  stopped  by  the  natives,)  I  saw  him, 
having  been  brought  before  lliat  savage  Chief.  He  expressed 
himself  very  bitterly  about  the  conduct  of  Government,  and 
especially  alluded  to  the  burning  of  a  church  and  burial 
ground  belonging  to  the  Hutt  natives.  It  was  indeed  an 
unjustifiable  and  wanton  act  committed  by  a  constable,  who 
had  no  proper  officer  to  superintend  him.  He  called  the 
Europeans  a  murderous  race.  He  was  reminded  of  his  own 
acts,  and  told  that  the  Europeans  were  afraid  to  ccnnmit 
murder,  from  the  fear  of  God.  He  said  it  was  false ;  and  as 
for  God,  he  was  a  god  himself,  and  thrust  out  his  tongue, 

*  When  Rauparaha  heard  that  Rangihaeata  intended  to  fight  with  the 
Europeans,  the  following  angry  conversation  took  place  between  the  two 
Chiefb: — 

E  maa  ana  te  Rauparaha  ki  a  Rauparaha  said,  go  to  the  mountain, 
Rangihaeata  Uaere  koe  ki  te  maunga  that  you  may  be  smoked  to  death  by  wet 
kia  waka  pongia  ki  te  ahi  rarauhi.      fern,  alluding  to  his  baring  to  encamp 

out  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  use  wet 

Aiel. 

Te  mea  ana  a  Rangihaeata  haere      The  answer  giren  was,  go  you  to  the 

koe  ki  te  moana  kia  waka  puarutia  sea,  as  a  relish  for  potatoes,  alluding  to 

ki  te  tokanga  kai  maoa,  the  custom  of  placing  some  fish  or  flesh 

on  the  basket  of  cooked  pototoes,  as  a 
relish,  and  to  his  being  taken  prisoner. 


TE  RAUPARAHA  AND  RANOIHAEATA.  337 

which  quivered  like  a  serpent's,  to  an  unnataral  length,  and 
rolled  his  bloody  eye-balls  like  a  demoniac. 

A  large  British  and  native  force  was  raised,  and  he  was 
attacked  in  his  pa  at  Paua-taha-nui,  and  driven  from  it;  thence 
he  took  up  a  post  on  a  mound  in  the  middle  of  the  forest  of 
the  Horokiri  Valley,  called  Remutaka.  With  some  loss  he  was 
driven  thence,  and  conducting  his  men  along  the  heights  of  the 
mountains  in  the  depth  of  winter,  supporting  themselves 
chiefly  on  pitau^  (cooked  fem  tree,)  he  safely  reached  Porou- 
tawao,  although  pursued  by  a  very  large  force.  The  spot  he 
selected  was  so  shut  in  by  swamps,  that  it  was  thought  most 
prudent  to  leave  him  there. 

Rauparaha  remained  a  prisoner  for  nearly  two  years.  The 
writer  saw  him  on  board  the  Calliope^  a  few  days  after  his- 
being  taken.  He  was  well  fed  and  kindly  treated,  and  had  a 
large  cabin  given  up  to  him;  he  appeared  in  good  spirits, 
and  did  not  seem  to  repine  at  his  lot ;  in  fact,  he  became 
strongly  attached  to  Captain  Stanley,  an  open  jovial  British 
sailor,  and  afterwards,  when  released  at  Auckland,  he  left  all 
his  valuables  in  the  Captain's  charge,  and  whenever  the 
Calliope  came  near  his  residence,  he  showed  Captain  Stanley, 
in  every  way  which  laid  in  his  power,  his  attachment  to  him. 
The  old  Chief  on  returning  to  his  tribe,  did  not  feel  that  he 
had  been  degraded ;  neither  was  there  any  diminution  of  his 
regard  for  Europeans.  The  Governor  wisely  gave  him  several 
handsome  presents  on  his  departure,  and  from  that  time  to  his 
death,  he  quietly  resided  amongst  his  people,  and  invariably 
might  he  be  seen  at  the  daily  service,  morning  and  evening, 
dressed  in  a  captain's  naval  uniform.  He  seemed  to  view  the 
rapid  advance  of  his  tribe  in  the  arts  of  civilization  with  the 
greatest  satisfiution,  as  well  as  the  progress  of  the  children  in 
the  schools. 

In  November,  1840,  the  old  Chief  expired,  at  Otald.  He 
was  not  baptized,  and  although  his  son  wished  the  burial 
service  of  the  Church  to  be  used  at  his  funeral,  the  minister 
did  not  feel  himself  justified  in  doing  so.  It  was,  however, 
used,  a  lay  member  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  from 
Wanganui  opportunely  passing  through  the  place,  read  the 


338  TB   RAUPARAHA   AND   RANOIHAEATA« 

service  over  him;  and  thus  terminated  the  eventful  life  of 
this  New  Zealand  warrior. 

In  stature,  he  was  not  above  five  feet  six  inches ;  but  his 
countenance  was  striking  ;*  he  had  a  Roman,  or  hooked^  nose, 
an  eagle  glance,  which  read  the  thoughts  of  others  without 
revealing  his  own,  and  a  look  which  clearly  marked  his  daunt- 
less bearing;  it  seemed  impossible  to  take  him  by  surprise. 
His  being  long  accustomed  to  command,  gave  him  a  dignified 
demeanour ;  and  his  fertility  in  expedients,  a  cunning,  or  rather 
shrewd  cast  of  countenance.  Even  when  clad  in  a  blanket, 
few  could  look  at  him  without  being  impressed  with  a  feeling 
that  he  was  no  ordinary  person. 

The  character  of  this  Chief  has  been  variously  drawn.  The 
settlers  in  general  viewed  him  as  everything  bad,  most  treacher- 
ous, and  deceitful ;  but  this  opinion  was  not  founded  on  their 
personal  acquaintance  with  him,  so  much  as  from  report.  The 
whalers  and  traders,  who  had  the  best  opportunity  of  being 
intimately  acquainted  with  him,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when 
his  power  to  injure  was  the  greatest,  invariably  speak  of  him 
as  having  ever  been  the  white  man*s  friend  ;  he  always  placed 
the  best  he  had  before  them,  and  in  no  instance  have  I  heard 
of  his  doing  any  one  of  them  an  injury.  Speaking  of  him  to 
an  old  whaler,  he  said  most  emphatically,  that  he  never  let  the 
white  man  who  needed^  want  anything  he  could  givey  whether 
food  or  clothing.  In  fact,  his  natural  sagacity  told  him  that  it 
was  his  interest  to  make  common  cause  with  the  Europeans, 
for  it  was  through  them  he  acquired  the  sinewe  of  war^  guns, 
powder,  and  shot,  and  everything  else  that  he  required. 

In  latter  days,  when  the  influx  of  Europeans  became  greater, 
and  they  held  permanent  possession  of  his  land,  without  making 
common  cause  with  him,  as  the  whalers  had  done,  but  often 
treating  him  in  a  slighting  way,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that 
he  would  regard  them  with  more  suspicion  than  attachment ; 
and  so  should  we  also,  had  we  been  in  his  place.  That  he 
was  a  savage  conqueror  and  cannibal,  guilty  of  many  enormi- 
ties and  unmerciful  deeds,  must  be  acknowledged,  but  it  must 

*  It  b  remarkable,  that  most  great  conquerers  were  small  men ; — Alexan- 
der, CsBsar,  Napoleon,  Wellington,  dec. ;  and  the  ejre  and  nose  alike  in  aU. 


TB  RAUFARAHA  AND  RANGIHAEATA.         339 

also  be  remembered^  that  he  did  not  possess  that  light  whicb 
we  do ;  and  whenever  his  deeds  are  put  alongside  of  those 
committed  in  civilized  and  Christian  warfare,  for  which  have 
we  the  most  reason  to  blush  ? 

Sir  George  Grey,  by  his  kindness  and  presents,  drew  Rangi- 
haeata  several  times  from  his  retreat  at  Poroutawao,  as  a  tiger 
from  his  lair,  and  when  he  thought  he  had  conciliated  his 
regard,  and  secured  his  friendship,  he  asked  him  to  sell  Wai- 
kanae.  It  would  have  been  a  subject  for  an  artist  to  pic- 
ture the  indignant  looks  of  the  Chief;  he  flatly  and  rudely 
refused,  telling  him  to  be  content  with  what  he  had  got. 
"You  have  had  Porirua,  Ahuriri,  Wairarapa,  Wanganui, 
Rangitikeij  and  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Island  given  up  to 
you,  and  still  are  not  content ;  we  are  driven  up  into  a  comer, 
and  yet  you  covet  it/'  Chagrined  and  disappointed,  the 
Governor  took  his  leave.  He,  however,  was  most  highly 
esteemed  and  honored  in  his  departure,  by  many  tokens  of 
regard  and  interesting  addresses  from  those  very  natives, 
though  they  refused  to  accede  to  his  wish  and  part  with 
their  land. 

The  earliest  visit  paid  Rangihaeata  after  the  war,  was  by 
Lieut.-Govemor  Eyre  and  myself.  He  was  still  at  Poroutawao. 
A  long  narrow  low  strip  of  land,  running  tiirough  deep  swamps, 
led  to  his  retreat ;  the  name  of  the  place  aptly  describes  it, 
being  a  cork,  or  stoppage  to  war,  and  few  would  like  to  draw 
it  out.*  The  pa  was  on  a  mound,  the  only  one  in  the  vicinity, 
and  strongly  fortified  in  the  native  style,  with  thick  lofty  posts 
deeply  sunk  in  the  ground,  and  bound  together  with  a  huahua, 
or  connecting  pole,  running  round,  at  the  height  of  about  ten 
feet  from  the  ground.  Inside  the  outer  fence,  there  was  another, 
behind  which  the  defenders  could  post  themselves,  and  take  aim 
through  the  outer  one.  The  pa  was  divided  into  a  number  of 
small  courts,  each  equally  defended,  and  connected  by  very 
narrow  passages.  We  found  the  Chief  with  his  wives  and  head 
men  assembled  in  the  chief  court,  or  marae,  sitting  on  mats  in 

*  Poroutawao  means  the  remains  of  a  bird  caught  in  a  snare,  and  parUy  con- 
smned  bj  dogs,  in  the  wilderness ;  but  the  common  pronunciation  Puru  tawa 
bears  the  signification  I  have  given. 

z  2 


340  TB  BAUPA&AHA  AND   RANOIHAEATA. 

front  of  his  house ;  fresh  fern  was  strewed  on  the  ground,  and 
new  mats  laid  on  it  for  us.  We  were  received  with  great  respect, 
and  welcomed  with  a  loud  haeremau  We  sat  down  on  the  Chiefs 
right  hand,  and  conversed  on  various  subjects,  until  we  were 
invited  to  enter  a  neighbouring  house,  where  no  one  followed 
us,  except  a  neatly  dressed  and  good-looking  lady,  who  was 
appointed  to  wait  upon  us ;  this  is  Maori  etiquette.    We  found 
a  kind  of  table  formed  of  two  boxes,  one  placed  on  the  other, 
with  a  new  red  blanket  thrown  over  it,  and  a  form  similarly 
covered  in  regal  style ;  on  the  table  was  placed  a  dish  of  good 
fresh-baked  cakes,  another  containing  sugar,  a  knife,  spoon, 
and  two  basins,  one  nearly  allied  to  a  wash-hand  basin  in  size. 
The  lady  then  brought  a  tea-kettle,  and  filled  our  cups  with 
an  infusion  of  mint,  which  she  called  tea.     The  wash-hand 
basin   was,  of  course,   placed  before   the   representative   of 
Majesty,  who  viewed   with  dismay  its  enormous   capacity, 
which  being  given  him  from  respect,  he  could  not  well  avoid 
draining  to  the  bottom.     After  enjoying  the  Governor's  per- 
plexity, when  the  lady  left  the  room,  I  emptied  the  contents  of 
our  bowls  into  a  calabash,  from  which  one  of  our  natives  was 
drinking.    Our  repast  being  ended,  we  returned  to  the  Chief, 
and  sat  by  his  side.     The  Governor  requested  me  to  ask  the 
Chief  to  sell  land,  as  has  already  been  said,  when  Rangihaeata 
gave  a  savage  look  of  defiance,  thrusting  out  his  tongue,  and 
rolling  about  his  eyes  in  such  a  way,  that  his  Excellency,  who 
had  never  seen  such  a  display  before,  stared  with  amazement, 
and  evidently  felt  anything  but  at  ease. 

It  need  not  be  said  that  his  land  negociations  were  speedily 
terminated,  and  the  Governor  and  his  attendants  were  soon 
threading  their  way  back  along  Rangihaeata's  swamp-girt  road. 

He  is  now  an  old  man,  with  a  head  white  as  the  top  of 
Tongariro,  and  with  a  spirit  somewhat  resembling  that 
volcano,  always  fuming.  His  white  hair  strangely  contrasts 
with  his  bronzed  features,  and  highly  tattooed  countenance. 

He  remains  unchanged  in  his  views,  and  will  doubtless 
continue  so  during  the  short  period  still  remaining  for  him 
on  earth.  His  countenance  has  not  the  marked  character  of 
Te  Rauparaha's,   neither  does  he  appear  to   have   equalled 


TB   BAITFAKAUA   AND   BANOIHASATA.  341 

hia  relative,  eitlier  m  wisdom  or  courage,  or  nobleness  of  de- 
portment i  still  he  has  been  a  wonderful  man,  and  ^ilty  of 
much  crime,  and  will  be  little  regretted  when  he  is  taken  away. 

The  word  Rangihaeata  means  the  morning  sun-beam. 

The  following  song  was  sung,  to  show  that  the  decettful- 
ness  of  Te  Rauparaha  was  known : — 
Tawate  mai,  te  tangata  taware    Deceive,  deceive  the  man, 

Pokipoki  mai,  te  wahime  pokipoH    Flatter,  flatter  the  woman, 

£  mahi,  te  mahi,  bona,  mahia,  Work,  work  it  is  done, 

£  moe,  te  moe,  kooa  horahia,  Bleep  the  sleep,  the  object  is, 

Ina  matara  huria  koieL  Spread  out ;  it  is  manifest. 

Hi  Puha  or  Jttrmg  Song  on  Te  Ratiparaha. 

Haere  atu  ki  te  pai,  Oo  and  find  out  the 

A  to  Paraha,  Good  of  Sanpaiaha, 

He  pai  ranei ;  he  kahore  ranei,  Is  he  good,  or  is  he  bad  ? 

He  waka  te  watewaia,  kuaka  He  is,a  deceiver, 

Kia  ware,  e-kia  ware.  Don't  forget,  don't  forget. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


HONE  HEKB. 


This  Chief  belonged  to  the  Nga  puhi  tribe :  he  married  the 
dauf^hter  ot  Hongi,  and  was  one  of  the  early  converts  to 
Christiani^.  He  diatinguished  himaelf  b;  his  knowledge  of 
Scripture,  and  consistency  of  conduct,  until  the  assumption 
of  British  authority  in  1840.  listening  to  the  insidious  repre- 
sentations of  unprincipled  foreigners,  then  roving  about  the 
country,  he  conceived  the  idea  that  the  British  Government 
intended  to  make  skvcs  of  the  Maori.  His  first  great  display 
of  .&n^t  was  occauoned  by  a  flagstaff,  which  was  erected  on 
the  heigin  above  Kororareka  to  signalize  ships.    This,  he  was 


HONE  HBKB.  343 

told,  was  the  sign  of  their  being  reduced  to  slavery.     He, 
therefore,  went  and  cut  it  down  (July,  1844). 

Captain  Fitzroy,  the  Governor,  sent  for  some  military  from 
Sydney,  about  180  of  the  99  th  Regiment.  On  their  arrival, 
he  held  a  meeting  with  Heke,  Walker  Nene,  Moses  Tawai, 
and  others;  the  latter  offered  to  be  surety  for  Heke*s  good 
behaviour.  They  said,  if  the  soldiers  were  sent  away  he 
would  be  peaceable,  and  if  not,  they  would  then  make  com- 
mon cause  ¥dth  the  Government.  The  Governor  agreed, 
and  sent  the  soldiers  back;  they  returned  grumbling  and 
disappointed  to  Sydney.  At  the  Governor's  request,  ten 
muskets  were  given  up,  and  laid  at  his  feet,  who,  satisfied 
with  this  proof  of  submission,  returned  them  to  their  owners. 
This  act  of  the  Governor's  was  found  great  fault  with,  but  it 
was  a  very  prudent  one,  for  had  he  taken  his  little  troop 
inland,  it  conld  have  done  nothing,  but,  unsupported  by 
native  allies,  it  would  doubtless  have  been  cut  off  by  Heke's 
ambuscades.  As  it  was,  the  Governor  secured  valuable  allies, 
who  afterwards  contributed  to  the  final  success  of  our  arms. 

This  peaceable  state  was,  however,  of  very  short  duration. 
Heke  again  listened  to  the  tales  of  men  ill-affected  to  the 
British  Government,  and  a  second  time  he  went  and  cut  down 
the  flagstaff.  Another  was  erected,  sheathed  with  iron,  six 
feet  high,  and  protected  by  a  block  house  and  twenty  men. 
Walker  remonstrated  with  Heke,  but  he  insulted  him,  and 
proceeded  in  his  hostile  course.  Many  acts  of  plunder  were 
committed  on  the  settlers.  In  February,  1845,  it  became 
evident  that  another  attack  would  be  made  on  the  flagstaff; 
the  block  house,  therefore,  was  further  strengthened,  and 
Captain  Robertson,  of  the  Hazard^  was  sent  to  protect  the 
town  of  Kororareka,  which  was  menaced  by  a  force  of  near 
800,  under  the  command  of  Heke  and  Kawiti,  who  had  joined 
him  with  all  his  men. 

Walker  and  several  other  Chiefs  met  Heke  a  day  or  two 
before  at  the  Waimate,  and  told  him,  if  he  persisted  in  his 
hostile  course,  they  should  join  the  Governor.  Heke  said,  he 
had  heard  that  the  snake,  whose  head  he  had  cut  off,  had 
grown  into  a  monster,  with  many  mouthi^,  and  that  he  was 


344  HONE   U£K£. 


anxious  to  see  the  strange  sight, — alluding  to  the  flagstaff  and 
loop-holes  in  the  block  house. 

This  large  force  encamped  about  a  mile  from  the  town,  out 
of  the  range  of  the  HazardCs  guns.  Several  skirmishes  took 
place.  Lieutenant  Fhilpott  was  taken  prisoner;  they  took 
away  his  pistols,  but,  having  danced  the  war  dance  around 
him,  they  returned  one  pistol,  and  good  humouredly  let  him  go, 
bidding  him  take  more  care  of  himself  for  .the  future.  On  the 
Sunday,  one  of  the  Missionaries  went  and  preached  to  them 
from  James,  whence  came  wars  and  fightings.  When  he  had 
finished,  Heke  bid  him  go  and  preach  the  same  sermon  to  the 
sailors  and  soldiers,  who  equally  needed  his  warnings. 

On  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  March,  Heke  went  with  a  party 
of  SOO  men,  and  placed  himself  in  ambuscade  near  the  block 
house,  whilst  Kawiti,  at  the  head  of  a  similar  number,  advanced 
upon  the  town,  not  to  injure  the  settlers,  as  he  afterwards  said, 
but  to  draw  off  the  attention  of  the  sailors  from  Heke's  attack 
on  the  block  house.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
11  th,  the  inhabitants  of  Kororareka  were  aroused  by  the  sound 
of  musketry.  Kawiti  was  making  his  descent  upon  the  town, 
when  his  course  was  arrested  by  Captain  Robertson,  at  the  head 
of  about  twenty-five  men,  who  defended  a  narrow  defile  against 
an  overwhelming  force.  A  sharp  encounter  took  place,  in 
which  six  or  seven  of  the  sailors  were  killed,  and  as  many 
more  woimded,  amongst  whom  was  the  Captain,  who  had 
suffered  so  severely  that  his  life  was  at  first  despaired  of; 
but  he  eventually  recovered.  He  showed  great  bravery,  and 
killed  several  with  his  own  hand.  Ejiwid  lost  near  twen^ 
men,  and  amongst  them  several  high  Chiefs,  and  he  had 
many  wounded. 

Heke  succeeded  in  taking  the  block  house,  and  cutting 
down  his  enemy,  the  flagstaff;  he  then  danced  the  war  dance 
with  his  men  on  the  hill,  in  token  of  victory. 

The  natives  finally  gained  the  day,  and  the  explosion  of  the 
gunpowder  magazine  induced  the  British  to  evacuate  the  town, 
which  was  safely  effected  under  the  guns  of  the  Hazard.  The 
natives  themselves  appeared  surprised  at  their  victory  and  at 
the  abandonment  of  the  town,  which  they  for  a  long  time  for- 


HONE   HBKS.  345 

bore  entering.  Afterwards  they  did  so^  and  plundered  the 
place,  which  they  never  would  have  done  had  it  not  been  thus 
deserted  by  its  inhabitants ;  but  at  the  same  time,  they  mani- 
fested a  degree  of  forbearance  and  humanity  which,  under 
similar  circumstances,  we  seldom  find  displayed  by  more 
civilized  combatants.  They  allowed  the  inhabitants  to  re- 
enter their  houses,  and  carry  off  their  valuables,  and  Heke 
even  sent  a  female  and  her  child  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  the 
vessels,  which  had  received  the  houseless  townspeople.  The 
Bishop  and  one  of  the  Missionaries  landed,  and  buried  the  dead. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  also  was  equally  active.  The 
Maori  then  burned  the  town,  but  carefully  spared  the  Mission- 
house  and  Church,  with  that  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  Gt>- 
vernor's  testimony  was,  that  acts  of  a  chivalrous  nature  were  per- 
formed by  them,  and  their  forbearance  towards  the  settlers,  and 
especially  tlie  Missionaries,  after  the  conflict,  was  remarkable. 

The  result  of  this  war  was  the  increasing  the  military  force, 
and  the  opening  of  a  regular  campaign.  It  caused  Walker 
and  several  others  to  declare  themselves  in  favor  of  the 
Governor.  He  promptly  mustered  250  men,  and  came  to  the 
Waimate,  as  early  as  March  19th,  and  when  Heke's  friends 
advised  him  to  join  them,  he  said,  "  That  man  has  despised 
our  words,  who  are  much  older  than  himself,  and  ridiculed 
our  threats.  Who  is  he,  or  what  is  he^  that  he  should  thus 
trample  underfoot  the  advice  of  his  fathers.  He  has  always 
been  troublesome,  but  latterly  he  has  become  unbearable.  K 
we  do  not  oppose  him,  he  will  soon  tyrannize  over  those  who 
have  fed  and  nourished  him,  and  we  shall  no  longer  have 
peace.'*  He  wrote  to  the  Governor  and  told  him  he  had  come 
to  fulfil  his  promise,  and  aid  in  putting  down  Heke. 

In  April,  H.M.S.  North  Star,  and  two  transport  ships, 
arrived  in  the  Bay,  with  300  men.  Pomare  was  taken  on 
board,  and  kept  as  a  prisoner.  Afterwards  the  troops  were 
marched  into  the  interior  to  join  Walker.  On  reaching  Mawe, 
where  Heke  had  built  a  strong  pa,  an  engagement  took  place. 
Kawiti  was  nearly  taken ;  he  feigned  death,  threw  himself  down, 
and  the  enemy  passed  and  repassed  him,  but  he  escaped.  The 
troops,  after  a  gallant  resistance,  gave  way. 


346  HONE   HEKE. 

On  the  3rd  May^  420  men  were  landed  at  the  Bay,  they 
were  marched  inland  to  attack  Heke,  who  had  retired  with  the 
other  Chiefs  to  a  pa  at  one  of  the  extremities  of  the  Bay. 
The  North  Star  also  proceeded  there.  A  fruitless  attack  was 
made  on  the  8th  of  May. 

The  troops  had  only  brought  three  days'  provisions  with 
them ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  Walker's  liberal  supply,  they 
would  have  been  famished.  Ruhe,  a  neutral  Chief,  had  pro- 
vided a  supply  of  pigs  and  potatoes  for  Heke  and  the  soldiers. 
The  road  to  the  latter  laying  through  his  camp,  he  asked 
permission  to  drive  his  pigs  for  the  soldiers.  This  was,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  immediately  granted.  Heke  abandoned  the 
pa,  and  the  troops  also  retreated  to  the  coast,  with  the  loss 
of  fifteen  killed,  and  thirty-seven  wounded. 

Heke  sent  a  message  to  the  British  Officers,  to  say  that 
their  dead  should  have  a  Christian  burial.  He  accordingly 
sent  for  a  Missionary,  who  performed  that  melancholy  duty. 
The  troops  were  re-embarked,  and  returned  to  Auckland. 

In  June,  a  large  body  of  six  or  seven  hundred  men,  under 
Colonel  Despard,  attacked  Heke  at  Taiamai,  where  he  and 
Kawiti  had  built  a  strong  pa.  On  hearing  of  this  great  force, 
Heke  tried  to  conquer  Walker  before  he  could  join  it.  In 
this,  however,  he  failed,  and  received  a  severe  wound  in  the 
thigh.  Colonel  Despard  stated  in  his  dispatch,  that  one-third 
of  the  men  actually  engaged  fell  in  the  attack.* 

Before  the  fight.  Walker's  men  joined  in  singing  a  hymn 
and  in  prayer  for  the  success  of  the  troops.  The  native 
Christians  in  the  pa  did  the  same  also,  and  though  our  men  in 
this  respect  were  wanting,  still  it  was  afterwards  found  there 
were  amongst  our  poor  fellows  who  fell,  those  who  committed 
their  souls  to  God  before  they  rushed  into  the  fight,  and  many 
others  who  were  greatly  encouraged  by  hearing  the  solemn 
prayers  of  the  natives  in  their  behalf. 

The  bugle  which  sounded  the  attack,  was  only  eight  minutes 
before  it  again  sounded  the  retreat,  and  in  that  brief  space  of 
time,  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  our  men  entered  eternity ! 

*  Colonel  Despard  is  reported  to  have  said,  before  he  left  Sydney,  that  he 
would  cither  take  Heke  alive  or  dead,  or  fall  in  the  attempt 


HONE   HERE.  347 

amongst  whom  were  Lieutenant  Phillpott  and  Captain  Grant ; 
these  the  Missionary  buried  in  the  church-yard  at  the  Waimate. 
The  body  of  the  latter  was  only  recovered  after  the  place  fell, 
having  been  buried  by  the  natives.* 

Afterwards,  when  the  artillery  was  brought  to  bear  on  the 
pa,  it  was  taken.  When  the  news  reached  Auckland,  the  inha- 
bitants for  a  time  were  panic  struck,  and  almost  expected  to 
see  the  enemy  at  their  doors. 

Heke  then  built  another  strong  pa,  called  Ruapekapeka, 
which  was  considered  a  masterpiece  of  Maori  fortification.f 

After  much  skirmishing,  in  January  1846,  the  pa  was  taken 
possession  of.  On  the  Sabbath,  the  defenders  retired  outside, 
to  the  part  the  furthest  removed  from  the  besiegers,  while 
they  held  their  service,  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  balls: 
this  being  discovered,  the  troops  entered  the  place  before 
Heke's  men  could  return,  and  the  pa  fell.  He  retired  to  the 
interior,  where  he  continued  to  reside  in  his  native  fastnesses, 
secure  from  pursuit.  After  having  made  an  honorable  peace, 
he  lived  in  quiet  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1850. 

However  mistaken  Heke's  views  may  have  been,  yet  he  can 
only  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  patriot.  His  moderation  in 
prosperity,  and  the  total  absence  of  vindictiveness  and  cruelty 
in  war  towards  those  thrown  into  his  power,  will  always  tell  in 
his  favour.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  he  was  made  the  dupe 
of  designing  men,  and  worthless  characters ;  but  making  allow- 
ances for  his  only  partially  enlightened  mind,  his  faults  will 
not  be  sufficient  to  eclipse  the  glory  which  he  has  gained  in  so 
successfully  combating  with  those  who  possessed  all  the  skill 
and  resources  which  military  science  could  bestow.  The 
Governor  wisely  made  peace  with  the  insurgents. 

Some  time  afterwards.  Sir  Everard  Holmes,  Commander  of 
the  North  Star,  paid  Kawiti  a  visit.  He  said,  "  Well,  Kawiti, 
it  is  peace  now."    The  old  Chief  replied,  "  Well,  it  is  for  you 

*  A  report  was  circulated  that  Captain  Grant's  body  had  been  partly  eaten, 
but  it  was  totally  untrue. 

t  A  model  of  it  was  nuule  by  Colonel  Wynyard>  and  sent  to  the  Great 
Exhibition. 


348  TAFOUKA. 

gentlemen  of  the  big  guns,  to  say  if  you  have  had  enough. 
We  have.    Let  there  be  peace  then," 

Thus  ended  the  first,  and  we  trust  the  last,  war  in  the  north 
of  the  Island,  between  the  European  and  native  races.  How- 
ever much  it  may  be  lamented,  we  cannot  but  regard  it  as  one 
of  those  events  which,  in  the  course  of  Providence,  has  been 
overruled  for  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  good  under- 
standing between  the  two  races.  At  first,  the  aborigines  were 
despised,  afterwards  feared,  and  at  last  respected. 

The  natives  were  surprised  when  they  found  they  were 
at  liberty  to  occupy  their  former  lands,  which  by  their  own 
customs  had  been  forfeited;  to  this  moderation  of  the  Gt>- 
vemor,  is  mainly  to  be  attributed  the  good  understanding 
which  has  since  prevailed. 

This  war,  when  contrasted  with  their  former  savage  ones, 
prior  to  their  embracing  Christianity,  is  remarkable  for  the 
entire  absence  of  unnecessary  acts  of  cruelty,  and  even  for 
many  instances  of  a  kindly  feeling  towards  their  foes,  which 
showed  most  clearly  how  great  a  change  the  mild  precepts  of 
the  Gospel  have  efiTected  in  the  native  mind. 

The  Governor  afterwards  met  Heke,  who  presented  him 
with  his  green  stone  mere,  which  is  now  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum ;  and  shortly  afterwards  he  began  to  decline 
in  health,  and  died.  He  was  only  about  forty  years  of  age. 
His  body  laid  in  state,  decorated  in  the  native  style,  for  some 
time  previous  to  its  interment,  and  was  visited  by  most  of  the 
natives  of  that  part  of  the  Island. 

Kawiti,  the  other  Chief,  died  about  1853,  having  previously 
embraced  Christianity,  and  been  baptized. 

Tapouka,  a  great  Chief  of  the  Middle  Island.  The  whalers 
gave  him  the  soubriquet  of  Old  Wig.  He  was  celebrated  for 
his  great  cunning,  as  well  as  courage.  Formerly  the  Dusky 
Bay  tribe  was  very  numerous,  it  is  now  all  but  extinct.  This 
wily  Chief  adopted  the  following  curious  expedient  to  surprise 
and  destroy  a  more  numerous  tribe  than  his  own.  He  dressed 
up  some  of  his  men  in  seal  skins,  and  sent  them  into  the 
vicinity  of  the  enemy,  carefully  planting  his  men  in  ambush 


TAPOUKA.  349 

inland,  sufficiently  near  to  command  a  view  of  what  was  going 
on.  The  natives,  unsuspecting  the  snare,  saw  these  pretended 
seals  sporting  about  in  the  breakers,  and  came  out  to  catch 
them.  When  the  whole  tribe  was  thus  drawn  out,  and  whilst 
intent  on  their  supposed  game,  out  rushed  Old  Wig  and  his 
tribe,  and  cruelly  massacred  them ;  some  fled  to  a  neighbour- 
ing island,  to  which  they  were  pursued,  and  there  killed  in  the 
caves  in  which  they  sought  to  conceal  themselves.  My  in- 
formant saw  their  bones  still  remaining,  a  monument  of  this 
cruel  adventure. 

Tapouka  died  of  the  measles  about  1833.  He  was  related 
to  another  great  Chief  named  Bloody  Jack,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal men  of  the  Ngai  tahu :  he  was  one  of  the  Chief  supporters 
of  the  whalers,  and  through  them  became  possessed  of  consider- 
able wealth.  In  imitation  of  the  Governor  of  New  South 
Wales,  where  he  had  repeatedly  been,  he  kept  a  number  of 
men  drilled  and  clothed  in  old  uniforms,  which  the  Governor 
gave  him ;  and  when  any  Europeans  visited  him,  these  were 
duly  drawn  out  before  them.  He  also  had  a  vessel  of  his  own, 
which  was  commanded  by  one  of  his  European  friends.  He 
made  common  cause  with  the  whalers,  in  all  their  quarrels, 
and  they,  in  return,  lent  him  their  aid,  and  thus  enabled  him 
to  obtain  the  mastery  over  the  neighbouring  tribes. 

Tute  ounguku,  the  son  of  Tama  hara  nui,  invoked  the  aid 
of  Bloody  Jack  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  father,  who  was 
murdered  by  Te  Bauparaha.  That  Chief  was  surprised  by 
Bloody  Jack,  and  nearly  all  his  party  cut  off;  Rauparaha  him- 
self had  a  very  narrow  escape  of  falling  into  his  hands ;  he  fled 
in  a  canoe,  to  lighten  which  he  threw  twenty  men,  women,  and 
children  into  the  sea.  This  Chief  lost  his  life  in  returning 
from  the  Kaikoura  in  an  open  boat,  in  company  with  a  young 
Chief  named  Topi,  who  was  in  another  boat.  Bloody  Jack 
took  an  inner  passage  in  the  dark,  and  was  capsized  in  the  surf^ 
and  although  his  companion  was  called  to  come  to  his  aid, 
he  most  unfeelingly  refused,  being  indignant  at  Bloody  Jack's 
having  appropriated  a  larger  portion  of  money  received  for 
the  sale  of  land  than  he  was  entitled  to.  He,  therefore, 
perished. 


350  ICAMAKU. 

It  appeared  as  though  the  electric  telegraph  had  found  its 
way  to  New  Zealand,  for  no  sooner  had  the  war  broken  out 
in  the  north,  than  hostile  symptoms  were  simultaneously  dis- 
played in  the  south.*  A  few  of  the  natives  who  lived  in  the 
Hutt,  and  had  cultivations  there,  were  ordered  to  quit  without 
much  ceremony  and  favor  being  showed  them.  They  were 
told  the  land  had  been  sold  by  Te  Rauparaha ;  they  also  claimed 
a  right  to  it,  but  their  claims  were  disallowed.  After  much 
disputing  on  both  sides,  a  military  force  was  stationed  in  the 
midst  of  their  cultivations.  The  Governor  sent  me  as  an 
ambassador  to  the  disaffected  natives,  who  were  then  encamped 
in  a  dense  forest,  to  say  that  if  they  quietly  left,  he  would  see 
they  had  compensation  given  them  for  tlieir  crops.  Kapera- 
tehau,  the  principal  Chief,  agreed  to  his  terms,  and  promised 
to  leave  the  following  day.  Unfortunately,  iu  the  meantime, 
a  constable  set  fire  to  their  village,  burnt  their  houses,  their 
neat  little  wooden  church,  and  even  the  fences  around  their 
graves.  This  wanton  act  greatly  exasperated  them :  during 
the  night,  they  revisited  the  site  of  their  late  homes,  dug  up  all 
the  bones  of  their  dead,  and  carried  them  off  into  the  bush. 
The  Governor  again  sent  me  to  speak  to  them.  I  found  their 
late  peaceable  feelings  had  disappeared  ;  they  pointed  to  a 
heap  covered  with  branches,  and,  lifting  them  up,  I  saw  the 
remains  of  the  dead.  They  told  me,  there  was  an  end  of 
peace.    I  left,  and  reported  their  words  to  the  Governor. 

To  make  a  beginning,  Rangihaeata  gave  a  tomahawk  to  two 
young  men,  and  bid  them  go  and  murder  some  European.  They 
obeyed,  and  killed  a  poor  fellow  and  his  son  named  Gillespie, 
who  were  quietly  at  work  when  they  were  surprised.  Such 
was  the  native  custom.  Before  dawn  on  the  16th  May,  1846, 
an  attack  was  made  on  a  party  stationed  at  Bouleott*s  Farm. 
The  bugler,  quite  a  lad,  was  struck  by  a  tomahawk  on  the 
right  arm,  whilst  sounding  an  alarm.    The  brave  youth  imme- 

*  When  OhaUwai  was  attacked,  and  so  many  of  our  brare  countrymen  feU, 
long  before  the  news  reached  the  settler  in  the  south,  I  saw  in  the  interior 
teveral  neatly-constructed  models  of  the  pa  and  its  defences,  made  with  fcm- 
•talks,  to  show  the  way  they  had  gained  the  victory  ;  these  had  been  made  by 
messengers  sent  from  the  north,  to  pubUsh  their  success  to  those  in  the  sooth. 


MAMAKU.  351 

diately  took  the  bugle  in  the  left  hand,  and  contmued  to  blow, 
until  a  second  stroke  cleft  his  skull  in  two.  The  men  rushed 
from  their  sleeping  quarters,  and  made  a  gallant  stand,  drove 
back  the  enemy,  and  maintained  their  post,  with  the  loss  of 
six  killed  and  four  severely  wounded.  The  officer  in  com- 
mand. Lieutenant  Page,  showed  great  courage  and  self-posses- 
sion on  the  occasion,  otherwise  he  and  the  little  band  must 
have  been  inevitably  cut  off.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  Makaku,  a  Chief  of  the  Nga  ti  rangi,  on  the  Upper 
Wanganui,  was  then  on  a  visit  to  Wellington ;  being  impor- 
tuned by  Rangihaeata,  he  joined  the  hostile  natives,  and 
virtually  became  their  chief  leader.  They  constructed  a 
strong  pa  at  Fauatahanui,  near  the  furthest  extremity  of 
Porirua  Harbour,  and  against  that  point  the  efforts  of  the 
military  were  next  directed.  The  hostile  natives,  however, 
finding  it  was  commanded  by  the  cannon,  abandoned  it  on 
their  approach,  and  selected  a  more  tenable  spot  in  the  Horo- 
kiri  Valley.  There  the  next  fight  took  place  on  the  ISth 
August,  1846 ;  several  of  our  men  fell  in  gallantly  storming  the 
heights  on  which  it  stood. 

The  Chiefs  then  conducted  their  men  along  the  mountidn 
ranges  to  Waikanae,  and  after  several  skirmishes,  in  which  a 
few  prisoners  were  taken,  and  one,  to  our  disgrace,  hung  for 
defending  his  native  land,  the  enemy  reached  Poroutawhao, 
where  Rangihaeata  remained  secure  amidst  the  swamps  which 
surrounded  the  place.  Mamaku  there  left  him,  and  returned 
to  Wanganui,  where  he  tried  to  raise  a  force  to  aid  his  former 
ally.  He  came  down  upon  the  town  with  about  eighty  men, 
but  the  Nga  ti  Ruaka  and  Putiki  natives  came  forward  and 
defended  it.  The  inhabitants,  to  mark  their  gratitude  for  this 
seasonable  protection,  gave  the  Head  Chiefs  a  public  dinner. 
Before  Mamaku  and  his  people  left,  he  said,  "  This  coat  is 
small,  but  I  shall  return  at  Christmas  with  a  warmer  one," 
intimating  that  he  would  then  come  with  a  larger  force,  and 
attack  the  town. 

The  Putiki  Chiefs,  Hoani  Wiremu  and  Te  Mawae,  aware 
of  the  critical  position  of  the  little  settlement,  which  then  had 
scarcely  a  population  of  two  himdred,  immediately  wrote  to 


352  MAMAKU. 

Government,  and  recommended  the  placing  of  a  military  force 
at  Wanganuiy  for  its  defence,  and  without  loss  of  time,  for 
Mamaku  would  certainly  return  again  with  a  larger  force. 
Their  advice  was  taken,  and  about  Christmas  a  detachment  of 
the  58th,  under  Captain  Laye,  arrived,  and  a  stockade  was 
made,  the  Putiki  natives  giving  their  assistance  in  cutting 
the  timber  required. 

In  April,  one  of  those  unforeseen  events  occurred,  which 
unfortunately  interrupted  the  good  understanding  which  had 
hitherto  existed  between  the  military  and  the  Nga  ti  Ruaka. 
A  young  midshipman,  who,  with  Lieutenant  Holmes,  of  the 
Calliope^  was  stationed  at  Wanganui,  in  command  of  a  gun- 
boat, had  employed  an  old  Chief  named  Hapurona,  to  make 
him  a  Raupo  house,  for  which,  when  made,  the  boy  (for  he 
was  nothing  more)  refused  to  give  the  stipulated  price,  and  in 
joke  pretended  to  be  very  angry  ;  he  pulled  out  a  pistol,  and, 
with  pretended  fierceness,  threatened  to  shoot  him,  unfortu- 
nately it  went  off,  and  the  ball  entered  the  Chief's  cheek,  and 
lodged  somewhere  near  the  ear.  The  native  thought  it  was 
done  on  purpose,  and  it  was  regarded  as  a  wilful  murder.  The 
military,  instead  of  holding  an  open  court  of  enquiry,  took  the 
youth  into  the  stockade,  and  shut  the  gates ;  this  confirmed 
them  in  the  idea  that  the  act  was  intentional. 

On  the  evening  of  April  18th,  1846,  a  party  of  six  young 
men,  or  rather  boys,  the  eldest  not  being  eighteen,  and  the 
youngest  only  twelve  years  old,  relations  of  the  wounded 
Chief,  in  order  to  have  payment  for  blood,*  and  bring  on  a 

*  Blood, — The  shedding  of  blood  was  always  considered  a  most  serious  thing, 
although  but  a  drop  were  shed,  and  that  too  of  a  person  in  the  wrong,  from 
being  before  the  aggressor  he  became  the  aggrieyed,  and  required  an  atone- 
ment. As  an  example,  if  a  man  caught  a  person  in  his  karaka  grore, 
stealing  the  fruit,  he  could  demand  a  compensation  for  the  theft ;  but  were  he 
to  strike  the  offender,  and  cause  a  single  drop  of  blood  to  flow  from  a  scratch, 
native  law  would  adjudge  that  karaka  grove  to  the  thief,  as  a  payment  for  the 
drop  of  blood  ;  and  were  not  the  owner  to  resign  the  land  to  him,  the  tribe  of 
the  thief  would  feel  itself  called  upon  to  maintain  his  right  to  it.  A  gentle- 
man  entering  my  house,  knocked  his  head  against  a  beam  and  cut  his  eyebrow, 
so  that  blood  flowed ;  the  natives  present  deplored  the  accident,  and  said  that, 
according  to  their  law,  the  house  would  have  been  forfeited  to  him,  and  as 
they  were  of  his  party,  it  would  have  been  their  duty  to  have  seen  it  given  up 


KAMAKU.  353 

war,  went  to  the  house  of  an  out-settler,  and  struck  at  him 
behind  the  neck  with  a  tomahawk.  The  wound  was  not  very 
severe,  the  man  being  tall,  his  young  assailant  could  not  reach 
him.  He  went  into  his  house,  and  the  miscreants  were  on 
the  point  of  fleeing,  when  they  beheld  their  intended  victim 
running  away,  having  escaped  from  a  back  window,  and 
abandoned  his  wife  and  six  or  seven  children  to  certain  death; 
had  he  possessed  a  grain  of  courage  or  feeling,  he  might  have 
driven  Uiem  away,  or  defended  his  house  until  help  arrived,  for 
he  possessed  a  double-barrelled  gun.  No  sooner  did  he  abandon 
his  helpless  family,  than  the  fellows  began  to  assault  the  house. 
The  poor  woman  put  her  two  eldest  children  out  of  the  back 
window  first,  and  then  the  others;  following  them  herself 
the  last,  and  leading  one  of  the  youngest  by  the  hand.  The 
miscreants  immediately  they  saw  her,  split  her  skull  with  the 
wood  axe,  and  that  of  her  child  as  well ;  they  then  ran  after 
the  others.  The  eldest  boy  and  girl  each  carried  a  baby ;  they 
struck  the  poor  boy  down.  He  had  succeeded  in  concealing 
himself,  but  when  he  heard  his  mother's  cries,  he  ran  to 
her  aid.  The  babe  he  carried,  rolled  into  the  fern,  and  as  it 
was  growing  dark,  escaped  observation.  They  next  cleft  the 
skull  of  the  eldest  daughter.  She  fell  and  covered  an  infant 
which  belonged  to  a  relative,  which  thus  escaped;  another 
poor  girl  was  likewise  killed  ;  two  of.  the  young  children  ran 
into  a  swamp,  and  concealing  themselves  amongst  the  flags  were 
not  seen.  The  natives  plundered  the  house,  and  set  it  on  flre. 
In  order  to  involve  the  Mission  natives  (who  were  always 
well  disposed  towards  the  Europeans)  in  a  quarrel,  and  to  make 
the  latter  think  they  had  committed  this  murder,  the  mur- 
derers dropped  diflerent  articles  taken  from  the  house  along 
the  road  leading  to  their  pa,  and  then  fled  up  the  river. 

to  him,  as  eyery  one  present  was  affected  by  bis  blood  being  sbed.  In  the 
same  way,  even  if  a  canoe  should  be  dashed  on  shore  in  a  storm,  and  the 
owner's  life  endangered,  he  thereby  acquires  a  title  to  the  spot  he  is  thrown 
on.  When  blood  is  shed,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one  related  to  the  person  who 
has  suffered  to  seek  for  revenge.  It  does  not  matter  whether  it  be  the  indivi- 
dual who  drew  it  or  any  one  else  belonging  to  his  tribe ;  but  blood  must  be 
shed  as  an  atonement  for  blood.  This  was  one  of  the  most  fertile  causes  of 
war  in  former  days.  There  were  then  no  cities  of  refuge  for  the  manslayer 
to  flee  to  for  safety,  and  his  act  endangered  the  lives  of  every  one  in  his  tribe. 

A  A 


364  MAMAKU. 

The  murder  made  a  great  sensation,  but  no  one  ventured 
there  that  night  to  see  what  had  been  done.  The  following 
morning,  several  of  the  settlers,  officers,  and  Futiki  natives, 
with  the  schoolmaster  of  the  Mission  Station,  went  to  the 
scene  of  this  tragedy.  They  met  the  two  children  on  their 
way  to  the  Mission-house,  and  afterwards  found  the  eldest 
daughter,  to  their  amazement,  still  alive,  with  the  baby  in  her 
lap,  covered  with  her  blood,  although  the  cleft  in  her  skull 
extended  full  six  inches  from  the  bridge  of  the  nose  to  the 
forehead.  The  cold  of  the  night  staunched  the  blood  and 
saved  her  life.  She  afterwards  recovered,  but  had  a  fearful 
bright  red  seam,  nearly  a  third  of  an  inch  wide;  a  lasting 
remembrance  of  that  dreadful  night.  She  and  the  two  infants 
with  the  corpses  were  brought  to  the  town.  The  timid 
man  stated,  it  was  at  his  wife's  request  he  left  her  to  seek  for 
aid,  as  she  had  no  fears  of  their  injuring  her,  but  this  was 
contradicted  by  his  daughter,  who  said,  her  poor  mother 
entreated  him  with  tears  not  to  abandon  them.  Immediately 
the  natives  heard  of  the  murder,  Hoani  Wirimu  and  the  Putiki 
Chiefs  held  a  meeting;  they  resolved  to  capture  the  murderers, 
as  the  best  way  of  proving  their  innocence  of  the  crime. 

They  crossed  over  the  same  night,  and  made  the  officer  in 
command  acquainted  with  their  intention ;  he  strangely  refused 
his  consent,  but  by  the  advice  of  his  brother  officers,  at  last 
did  so.  Hoani  Wirimu,  taking  several  determined  young 
men  with  him,  set  off  without  loss  of  time,  selecting  a  light 
and  swift  canoe.  They  paddled  up  the  river,  justly  sup- 
posing they  would  hasten  that  way  into  the  interior;  they 
called  at  every  place  to  enquire,  and  were  not  mistaken.  On 
reaching  Ikunikau,  they  told  a  feigned  tale  to  the  natives  of 
that  place,  who  immediately  manned  a  large  canoe,  and  con- 
tinued the  pursuit.  At  last,  the  murderers  were  perceived. 
The  Putiki  natives  laid  down  in  the  canoe,  lest,  being  recog- 
nized, the  object  of  their  journey  should  be  suspected.  On 
coming  alongside,  they  jumped  up  and  seized  them ;  a  struggle 
ensued,  and  the  canoe  was  capsized ;  they  however  retained 
their  grasp,  and  secured  five  of  the  murderers,  one  having 
previously  left  their  company.    Having  bound  their  prisoners, 


MAMAKT7.  335 

they  hastened  their  return.  On  reaching  Waipakura,  Maketu 
wanted  them  to  stay  there  for  the  night,  but  when  they 
declined  doing  so,  he  fired  at  them.  They  proceeded  on  their 
way,  and  safely  delivered  up  their  charge  to  the  miKtary ;  not 
haying  been  more  than  twenty-four  hours  from  the  time  of 
their  starting,  during  which  they  had  paddled  seventy  miles* 
No  time  was  lost  in  trying  the  prisoners  by  court-martial ;  the 
trial  commenced  on  the  24th  April,  (S5th  was  the  Sabbath,) 
and  on  the  S6th  they  were  condemned  and  executed,  the  boy 
only  being  spared,  as  it  was  proved  he  did  not  assist  in  the 
barbarous  deed ;  but  he  actually  entreated  to  be  hung  with 
his  companions. 

These  youths  being  connected  with  the  Nga  ti  ruaka,  caused 
thai  tribe  to  take  up  arms.  They  were  joined  by  the  Nga  ti 
haua,  with  the  Chief  Mamaku  at  their  head,  and  by  the  Fatu- 
tokotoko»  They  speedily  raised  about  three  hundred  men,  and 
encamped  at  Papaiti,  where  they  strongly  entrenched  them- 
selves. In  the  first  skirmish,  they  obtained  possession  of  a  part 
of  the  town,  which  they  not  only  plundered  but  coolly  remained 
in  to  feast  on  the  ducks  and  fowls  they  found  there,  cooking 
some  dozens  of  them.  The  military  and  inhabitants  took  shelter 
every  night  in  two  stockades  and  three  of  the  strongest  houses, 
two  of  which  were  surrounded  with  trenches.  The  town  then 
presented  a  singular  appearance,  its  entire  population  being 
thus  shut  up  in  these  few  fortified  spots,  all  herding  together, 
and  from  their  contracted  quarters,  much  sickness  and  death 
ensued.  Whilst  the  natives  were  thus  engaged  in  plundering, 
a  random  shot  from  the  nearest  fortified  house,  went  through 
one  of  those  in  the  hands  of  the  hostile  natives,  and  killed 
Maketu,  a  great  Chief,  whilst  in  the  act  of  loading  himself 
with  plunder.  The  gun  boat  was  of  great  service  in  keeping 
the  enemy  in  check,  its  bold  commander  being  always  in 
advance.  The  news  of  the  war  was  brought  to  Auckland, 
where  I  was  then  attending  a  Committee  of  the  Church ;  the 
Governor  left  the  next  day  in  the  Inflexible,  war  steamer, 
taking  me  with  him.  On  reaching  the  Wanganui  Heads,  S4th 
May,  a  gun  was  fired  to  give  notice  of  our  approach,  but  no 
boat  came  ofi*.     At  last,  two  natives  were  seen  on  the  shore, 

aa2 


356  MAMAKTJ. 

waving  a  flag;  we  went  and  took  them  on  board,  one  was 
Hoani  Wirimu,  who  informed  us  that  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  which  was  the 
reason  no  boat  had  been  sent  to  us.  All  the  available  force  was 
then  embarked  in  the  ship's  boats,  without  loss  of  time,  and  we 
entered  the  river.  Bands  of  natives  were  prowling  about  on 
the  town  side.  When  Hoani  Wirimu  sent  word  to  the  Governor, 
that  if  a  force  were  sent  that  night  up  the  river,  it  would  cut 
off  all  the  canoes  of  the  enemy.  The  advice,  however,  was 
not  taken,  and  the  following  morning  they  were  removed 
higher  up.  A  great  demonstration  was  made  of  our  force, 
but  without  result.  Several  skirmishes  took  place.  The 
natives  plundered  and  burnt  all  the  remaining  houses  of  our 
out-settlers,  and  drove  off  the  cattle.  They  carried  on  their 
operations  so  near  that  the  people  in  the  town  could  hear  them 
thrashing  out  their  wheat.  This  state  continued  until  the  1st 
July,  when  the  enemy  enticed  a  party  to  leave  the  stockade 
to  intercept  a  few  natives,  who  were  trying  to  carry  off 
some  geese ;  when  they  got  near,  up  jumped  another  party, 
which  caused  a  larger  to  be  sent  to  cover  it,  and  thus  at  last 
the  whole  military  force  was  drawn  out.  This  has  been 
dignified  as  the  Battle  of  St.  John's  Wood.  About  three 
men  were  killed  on  either  side,  and  ten  wounded.  It  appeared 
astonishing  to  a  civilian  that  so  much  firing  could  take  place 
with  so  little  effect,  the  chief  observable  one  was,  a  great 
downfall  of  rain  the  following  day.  The  natives  early  the 
next  morning  sent  a  challenge  to  meet  on  the  open  plain, 
which,  not  being  accepted,  they  said,  We  cannot  remain  any 
longer,  we  must  go  and  plant  potatoes,  and  to  the  amazement 
of  all,  they  broke  up  their  encampment,  and  left.  Thus 
terminated  the  war.  The  natives  said  they  were  "rite,'*  equal, 
and  therefore  they  were  satisfied,  there  being  exactly  the  same 
number  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides,  which  was  about 
half  a  dozen.  Since  that  time,  a  good  feeling  has  subsisted. 
The  native  has  been  raised  in  the  European's  estimation ;  he 
has  shewn  so  much  courage  and  skill,  as  to  elicit  the  admira- 
tion of  the  military,  and  he  has  clearly  proved,  that  whilst 
willing  to  be  one  with  us,  he  will  not  suffer  himself  to  be 


MANIHEBA  AND  KERBOFA.  357 

trampled  upon.  The  patience  and  forbearance  of  the  officer 
in  commandy  Colonel  Macleverty,  effected,  perhaps,  more  than 
our  arms :  he  showed  the  natives  we  had  no  desire  to  fight 
with  them,  but  only  to  defend  our  settlers  against  their  attacks, 
and  thus  the  kindly  feeling  between  the  two  races  was  not 
destroyed.  To  show  their  good  feeling,  of  their  own  accord 
they  returned  some  of  the  stolen  cattle,  and  then  demanded 
the  bodies  of  the  murderers,  which  being  given  up,  they 
returned  most  of  the  remaining  cattle,  and  since  that  period 
have  lived  peaceably. 

Mamaku  retired  to  the  Upper  Wanganui,  where  he  still 
lives  peaceably.  He  became  a  candidate  for  baptism;  having 
lost  his  three  wives,  he  said,  it  was  a  clear  indication  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  turn  to  God,  as  there  was  now  nothing  to 
hinder  his  doing  so ;  and  nearly  the  last  person  I  baptized,  was 
Te  Karamu,  Mamaku,  Nga-tai,  for  all  these  are  his  names. 
His  new  one  being  Hemi  Topini,  (James  Stovin,)  after  one  of 
my  relatives. 

Some  notice  in  this  work  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Manihera, 
especially  as  I  have  given  brief  sketches  of  the  principal  heathen 
Chiefs.  The  contrast  between  their  lives  and  that  of  a  Chris- 
tian Chief,  will  forcibly  show  the  wonderful  effect  and  power 
of  the  Gospel  on  the  mind,  and  the  remarkable  difference 
between  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  and  those  of  the  flesh. 

Manihera  was  a  Nga  ti  ruanui  Chief,  and  many  years  the 
head  teacher  of  his  tribe  at  Waokena  and  Whareroa.  He  was 
al^^ays  conspicuous  for  piety  and  attention  to  his  duties,  and 
instead  of  his  first  love  growing  cold,  his  appeared  to  increase 
with  time ;  indeed,  his  love  of  Christ  was  written  upon  his 
countenance.  At  the  Christmas  meeting  at  Wanganui,  Decem- 
ber 24th,  1846,  I  held  a  prayer-meeting  "  with  my  teachers, 
to  supplicate  the  Divine  blessing  upon  our  labors."  I  felt  it 
was  good  to  be  there,  the  fervency  and  fluency  with  which 
some  poured  forth  their  prayers  at  the  throne  of  grace,  gave 
the  well-grounded  hope  that  they  had  tasted  the  good  gift 
of  God,  and  were  thus  able  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  with  effect 
to  their  fellow  countrymen.     It  was  a  most  interesting  time, 


358  MANIHXBA  AXD   KKBSOPA. 

for  there  was  an  unusually  large  assemblage  of  nativesi  more 
than  two  thousand,  and  thoae  too  of  all  the  various  tribes  wbo 
inhabit  this  part  of  the  island,  and  who,  a  few  jears  ago^ 
could  not  have  been  induced  to  meet  on  any  terms,  but  now 
they  sat  quietly  by  each  other's  side  as  brethren.  The  d«ty  of 
aiding  those  still  sitting  in  heathen  darkness  was  alluded  ^ 
when  Manihera  arose,  and  said,  they  had  received  the  €%ri8^ 
tian  faith  &om  the  distant  country  of  England,  and  if  we  ha4 
left  our  native  land,  in  obedience  to  the  Lord's  command, 
"  To  go  imto  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel,"  surely  it 
was  theirs  also  to  do  the  same  amongst  their  own  benighted 
countrymen.  For  his  part,  he  willingly  offered  himself  as  a 
Missionary  to  go  to  his  enemies,  the  Taupo  natives,  who  were 
still  heathen.  Kereopa,  who  also  lived  at  Waokena,  re- 
quested to  be  his  companion.  Two  other  young  men  also 
volunteered.  Having  full  confidence  in  the  ^iritual  state  of 
the  former,  their  offer  was  accepted,  and  they  were  solemidy 
commended  to  the  care  of  the  Most  High;  all  present  ap* 
peared  deeply  affected  by  the  scene. 

Wiremu  Eruera,  and  Tahana,  two  of  the  teachers,  came 
forward  and  said,  that  as  these  two  were  now  devoted  to  the 
Lord,  they  did  not  think  it  right  the  servants  of  God,  as  am^ 
bassadors  of  Christ,  should  go  forth  without  suitable  clothes; 
they  immediately  gave  each  a  pair  of  black  trowsers,  the  only 
Sunday  ones  they  had ;  others  contributed  coats ;  one  person 
gave  one  garment  and  another  gave  another,  until  they  were 
perfectly  provided  with  proper  clothing. 

Afterwards  Manihera  and  his  companion  came  to  say,  that 
Enau,  the  brother  of  Herekiekie,  told  them,  they  had  better 
defer  their  proposed  journey  to  Taupo  until  his  return, 
as  their  going  before  would  be  like  walking  over  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  tribe,  alluding  to  those  who  had  been  slain  by 
the  Nga  ti  ruanui  in  their  former  wars.  They  aaid,  that 
although  they  deferred  the  journey,  they  could  not  forget  they 
were  tapu,  or  devoted  to  the  Lord. 

It  is  necessary  here  to  state  the  cause  of  the  great  enmity 
which  the  Taupo  natives  entertained  towards  Manihera,  as 
belonging  to  the  Nga  U  ruanui  tribe.     In  1841,  Tauteka  and 


MANIHBRA  AND  KBBBOPA.  359 

several  other  Taupo  CMefs,  headed  a  t{iua  (or  fight)  against 
Waitotara ;  they  were  all  slain,  and  some,  who  were  spared 
after  the  battle,  and  had  food  given  them,  were  afterwards  put 
to  death  by  another  party,  which  was  indignant  at  their  lives 
having  been  thus  preserved;  this  act  was  never  forgotten.  The 
Taupos  said,  after  they  had  shaken  hands  with  their  prisoners, 
and  fed  them,  they  killed  them  in  cold  blood,  and,  therefore, 
they  determined  to  murder  the  first  they  could  meet  with  from 
that  tribe,  as  a  satisfaction  for  the  blood  then  shed. 

Manihera  and  his  companion  knew  this,  and  without  waiting 
until  Enau  returned,  wearied  with  his  long  absence,  their  zeal 
overcame  their  prudence  and  urged  them  to  commence  this 
mission  of  love.  On  the  6th  of  February,  1847,  Manihera 
and  his  companion  left  Wauganui. 

One  part  of  the  duty  to  which  they  devoted  themselves, 
was  to  remonstrate  with  those  who  were  still  living  in  hostility 
to  the  British  Government,  as  well  as  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel,  and  urge  them  to  embrace  it.  They,  therefore,  first 
bent  their  steps  to  Poroutawao,  where  Rangihaeata  resided 
after  his  retreat  from  Porirua.  They  reached  his  abode,  and 
plainly,  but  afiectionately,  spoke  to  him.  He  replied  to  their 
address  by  laying  his  hand  edgewise  on  the  back  of  his 
own  neck,  intimating  to  them  that  they  were  exposing  them- 
selves to  great  danger  of  losing  their  lives,  by  the  step  they 
were  taking;  but  he  treated  them  with  great  respect,  and 
made  a  feast,  advising  them  to  proceed  no  further.  They 
thence  crossed  over  to  the  east  coast,  and  after  a  very  long 
journey,  reached  Rotorua,  where  they  remained  several  days. 
Mr.  Chapman,  the  Missionary  there,  was  much  interested 
with  them.  I  had  given  them  a  letter  for  him,  and  by 
mistake  it  was  sealed  with  black  wax.  Mr.  Chapman  wrote 
back  to  me,  and  did  the  same.  Manihera  remarked,  this  is  a 
sure  sign  of  death  for  us ;  nevertheless  God*s  will  be  done. 
On  reaching  Wairewarewa,  there  was  a  funeral  just  going  to 
take  place,  and  Manihera  was  invited  to  read  the  service, 
which  he  did,  remarking  he  shoiild  soon  want  some  one  to 
perform  the  same  ojffice  for  himself. 

They  then  went  to  Motutere ;  there  they  were  advised  to 


360  MANIHERA  AND  KERBOPA. 

go  to  Pukawa,  where  Iwikau  te  Heuheu  would  give  them  a 
kiud  reception,  and  were  told  to  be  satisfied  with  having  come 
thus  far,  for  the  tribe  they  were  so  desirous  of  visiting  was  a 
very  wicked  one,  and  would  not  attend  to  them,  but  most 
probably  put  them  to  death.  Manihera  replied,  that  the  great 
object  for  which  they  came  was  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
wicked,  and  therefore  the  reason  he  gave  why  they  should  not 
go,  was  the  very  reason  for  which  they  should.  He  answered. 
Well,  then,  you  go  with  your  eyes  open  to  the  consequences. 
They  preached  at  Motutere  ;  thence  they  visited  Waimarino, 
and  went  on  to  Waiariki;  there  they  again  received  a 
hearty  welcome.  He  preached  to  them  in  a  very  solemn 
strain,  which  deeply  affected  his  hearers,  and  in  the  morning 
he  said  he  felt  that  his  time  was  at  hand,  and  that  before  the 
sun  set  he  should  be  an  inhabitant  of  another  world;  that 
during  the  night  he  had  been  in  the  Reinga,  and  met  many  of 
his  deceased  friends,  who  told  him  he  should  soon  be  with  them. 

A  small  party  of  young  men,  about  ten  or  a  dozen,  accom- 
panied these  two  devoted  men  on  their  way,  for  Waiariki  was 
the  very  next  place  to  Tokanu,  the  residence  of  Herekiekie, 
and  the  tribe  they  were  going  to  visit. 

Their  coming  was  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  pa,  and 
bearing  in  remembrance  the  death  of  their  relatives  at  Waita- 
tora,  and  their  duty  of  avenging  them,  Huia-tahi,  chiefly  at 
the'  instigation  of  the  widow  of  Tauteka,  went  with  a  small 
party,  and  laid  in  wait  for  them ;  they  concealed  themselves 
in  a  thicket  by  the  road  they  were  to  pass,  and  suffered  the 
young  men  of  Waiariki  to  go  on  before,  for  all  were  walking  in 
single  file,  the  usual  custom,  the  native  roads  not  allowing  of 
two  walking  abreast.  Immediately  Manihera  and  Kereopa  came 
in  a  line  with  them,  they  fired.  Manihera  was  only  wounded, 
but  his  companion  was  shot  dead.  Huiatahi,  an  old  Chief 
nearly  seventy,  immediately  rushed  out  of  the  thicket,  and 
chopped  at  poor  Manihera  with  his  hatchet,  but  his  blows 
were  too  feeble  to  kill  him,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before 
he  fell :  one  blow  destroyed  his  sight ;  he  then  put  up  his 
hand  as  it  were  to  wipe  away  the  blood  from  his  eyes ;  at  last 
he  fell,  but  still  lingered  from  the  morning  when  this  cruel 


MANIHERA  AND  KEREOPA.  361 

tragedy  was  perpetrated  until  sunset^  ejaculating  prayers  for 
his  murderers,  that  their  eyes  might  be  opened  to  the  truth, 
and  assuring  his  companions  that  all  was  light  within.  Having 
taken  his  Testament,  and  a  kind  of  journal  which  I  requested 
him  to  keep,  and  given  them  to  one  of  the  young  men  who 
accompanied  them,  he  then  expired. 

Such  was  the  end  of  these  two  devoted  men :  truly  they 
were  soldiers  of  the  Cross,  faithful  even  to  death,  and  doubt- 
less at  the  last  day  will  stand  in  their  lot,  clothed  in  spotless 
raiment  of  white,  in  the  holy  company  of  those  who  have 
sealed  their  faith  with  their  blood. 

Their  companions,  who  were  unarmed,  loudly  expressed 
their  indignation  at  this  treacherous  deed ;  they  carried  the 
bodies  back  to  Waiariki,  and  afterwards  buried  them  with 
great  solemnity  near  their  pa,  erecting  a  double  fence  around 
their  graves.  To  mark  the  spot  where  these  faithful  soldiers 
of  the  Cross  fell,  they  scooped  out  two  hollow  places  in  the  turf. 
Not  satisfied  with  this,  they  immediately  sent  round  to  all  the 
Christian  villages,  exhorting  them  to  take  up  arms,  and  avenge 
so  unmerited  a  death ;  they  likewise  wrote  to  me,  and  bade  me 
lose  no  time  in  coming  to  Taupo.  They  were  killed  on  the 
12th  March,  and  on  the  22nd  the  news  reached  us.  We  were 
all  deeply  affected.  The  following  day  we  held  a  prayer- 
meeting  ;  I  told  the  natives  that  I  had  no  doubt  the  Almighty 
would  over-rule  this  sad  event  for  good,  and  that  He  in  whose 
cause  they  had  shed  their  blood,  would  not  suffer  it  to  sink 
into  the  ground  unrequited,  for  the  blood  of  the  Saints  is  the 
seed  of  the  Church.  That  Paul  was  not  only  consenting  to 
Stephen's  death,  but  also  the  keeper  of  the  garments  of  those 
who  stoned  him ;  and  yet  that  very  man,  in  after  days,  became 
the  chiefest  of  the  Apostles.  So  may  this  tribe,  which  has, 
through  ignorance,  consented  to  and  joined  in  this  cruel 
murder,  hereafter  become  as  eminent  for  its  love  to  God 
and  devotion  to  His  service. 

I  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  Herekiekie,  the  Chief  of  Tokanu, 
was  not  at  home  when  the  crime  was  committed,  and  that,  on 
his  return,  he  was  greatly  incensed  with  his  people  for  thus 
bringing  such  a  stain  on  his  place. 


362  MAmHEKA  AJm  KSBEOPA. 

I  wrote  to  Manihera's  firiendsy  expressing  the  hope  that  they 
woald  take  a  Christian  view  of  the  sad  affidr,  and  not  make  it 
a  pretext  for  fature  bloodshed. 

On  the  Ist  of  April,  a  large  meeting  was  held  to  hear  the 
letters  of  Manihera's  friends  read,  and  to  decide  what  should  be 
done,  for  there  was  a  very  general  feeling  of  indignation  against 
the  murderers.  The  letters  were  read ;  they  all  breathed  a 
very  Christian  spirit ;  the  tenor  of  them  was,  that  they  were 
not  angry  though  sorrowful  for  their  friends'  death ;  that  as 
they  had  died  in  the  Lord's  cause,  they  shoidd  leave  it  with 
Him,  and  not  in  the  old  way  demand  blood  for  blood. 

William  Tauri,  the  head  teacher,  who  was  also  a  Taupo 
chief,  expressed  his  entire  concurrence  in  the  sentiments 
which  the  Nga  ti  ruanui  had  expressed,  and  made  use  of 
the  following  beautiful  simile,  to  show  that  although  a  minis^ 
ter  or  teacher  might  be  taken  away,  yet  that  event,  however 
deplorable,  woiild  not  hinder  the  spread  of  the  Grospel.  A 
minister,  he  said,  was  like  a  lofty  Kahikatea  tree  full  of  fruit, 
which  it  sheds  on  every  side  around,  causing  a  thick  grove 
of  young  trees  to  spring  up ;  so  that  although  the  parent  tree 
may  be  cut  down,  its  place  is  thus  more  than  supplied  by  those 
which  proceed  from  it. 

Another  said,  *'  If  a  soldier  of  the  Queen  were  to  be  killed, 
and  we  were  bidden  to  arise,  shoiild  we  not  do  so  f  And  now 
that  a  soldier  of  Christ  is  murdered,  shall  we  sit  still  ?  When 
Paul,  the  teacher  of  Onetea,  was  drowned  in  the  Wanganui  river, 
did  not  his  friends  come  and  carry  away  his  body  to  be  interred 
amongst  his  own  friends  and  relatives,  and  shdl  the  bodies  of 
Kereopa  and  Mauihera  be  left  amongst  the  heathen?"  But 
another  immediately  arose;  and  said:  "Why  shoiild  we  be 
thinking  about  the  bodies  of  our  friends  and  their  resting-place  t 
We  know  that  although  they  are  decomposing  amongst  their 
enemies,  yet  their  spirits  are  alive  vnth  God.  I  know  what  we 
should  have  done  in  former  days  ;  but  what  would  have  been 
the  good  ?  If  we  fight,  we  only  increase  our  sorrow  by  multi- 
plying the  dead.  Let  us  not  fear  those  who  can  kill  the  body, 
and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  Let  us  listen 
to  our  Minister,  and  take  his  advice."     Tahana,  one  of  our 


MANIHBfiA  AND  XSBSOPA.  363 

principal  Chi^  and  also  a  teacher,  aaid,  ^' At  baptison  we  are 
made  the  soldiers  of  Christ.  The  soldiers  of  the  Queen  perish, 
but  the  soldiers  of  Christ  live  for  ever,  Manihera  and  Kereopa 
were  true  soldiers  of  Christ;  can  we  doubt  their  happy  state  ?*' 
Another  remarked,  ^Although  their  blood  had  been  poured  out 
on  the  ground,  it  was  no  proof  that  God  was  angry  with  them, 
for  Christ's  blood  also  was  shed — that  the  blood  of  the  people 
of  God  fertilized  the  earth;  and  although  these  two  were 
dead,  we  should  not  be  discouraged,  but  send  two  more  to 
preach  the  Gt)spel ;  and  if  they  also  were  killed,  two  others ; 
and  if  t^y  perished,  still  keep  supplying  their  places  until 
the  summer  came,  and  then,  perhaps,  their  enemies  would 
give  in,  and  be  converted." 

Several  others  addressed  the  meeting  in  similar  terms.  It 
was  then  decided  that  the  matter  should  be  left  entirely 
with  me.  I  proposed  to  visit  the  tribe  which  had  murdered 
Manihera  and  his  companion,  as  well  as  the  Christian  natives 
of  Taupo,  to  allay  the  excitement  these  deaths  had  made, 
and  to  exhort  the  murderers  to  repentance. 

On  the  5th  of  April  I  left  home,  and  found  the  natives  up 
the  river  in  a  very  excited  state,  and  extremely  hostile  to  the 
British  Government,  and  to  the  Putiki  natives  as  well,  for  having 
made  commcm  cause  with  the  Europeans.  I  was  several  times 
threatened,  and  advised  to  return ;  but  on  the  gist  we  safely 
reached  Pukawa.  A  rumour  had  preceded  us,  that  we  were 
coming  with  a  party  of  three  or  four  hundred  men  to  avenge 
the  death  a£  Maniliera.  Te  Heuheu  received  us  with  every 
demonstration  of  joy,  and  after  the  usual  temgi^  or  crying, 
was  concluded,  he  addressed  us  in  a  very  long  speech.  He 
said  that  the  great  and  lofty  had  fallen,  and  that  all  was  dark 
on  their  account.  He  bade  us  welcome,  whatever  might  be 
the  object  of  our  coming — ^whether  to  cover  up,  or  uncover, 
the  crime.  He  said,  "  This  land  has  been  polluted  with  blood 
from  the  time  of  our  first  ancestors  to  this  day.  My  brother, 
my  child,  my  father  Te  Teira,  welcome !  Go  you  to  Huiat^ ; 
you  are  strong :  I  cannot.  Don't  say  I  conceal  my  thoughts.** 
I  told  them  this  was  my  second  visit  on  account  of  the  dead ; 
first  for  Te  Heuheu,  and  now  I  came  for  Manihera  and 


364  MANIHEBA  AND  KEBSOPA. 

Kereopa :  the  falling  of  a  mountain  had  crushed  the  one,  but 
the  others  had  been  basely  murdered,  when  they  only  came  as 
messengers  of  peace :  that  Heuheu  did  not  gain  his  rank  by 
murder — he  was  too  noble  to  use  such  means :  that  if  a  tribe 
thus  sought  to  prosper,  it  was  as  though  a  man  were  to  ex- 
pect his  house  to  stand  firm  though  built  on  a  bog.  I  was 
indeed  grieved — not  for  Manihera  and  his  companion,  for  they 
were  happy,  and  had  received  their  reward,  but — that  any 
coidd  be  guilty  of  such  a  crime.  They  had  heard  a  rumour 
that  I  was  coming  with  several  hundred  men  to  avenge  their 
deaths :  I  had  indeed  come,  and  they  beheld  my  party !  our 
only  weapon  was  the  Word  of  God!  We  came,  not  to 
avenge,  but  to  make  peace — ^judgment  we  left  with  God.  I 
was  not  sorry  for  the  indignation  which  the  natives  of  the 
other  side  of  the  lake  had  shown  against  the  murderers — for 
the  dead  were  their  guests,  and  they  were  murdered  in  their 
presence  :  had  they  not  shown  their  abhorrence  at  the  deed,  I 
should  have  thought  they  had  connived  at  it ;  but  we  came  to 
make  an  end  of  Uie  quarrel,  and  the  terms  were,  that  peace 
must  now  be  made  with  the  Nga  ti  ruanui — as  it  had  been 
purchased  with  the  blood  which  was  shed. 

About  an  hour's  pull  on  the  morrow,  brought  us  to  Tokanu. 
We  passed  by  the  mournful  scene  of  Heuheu*s  glory  and 
destruction :  the  grass  had  not  yet  grown  over  the  common 
tomb  of  his  tribe.  The  long-extended  line  of  clay,  which  had 
covered  up  his  pa,  formed  a  striking  monument  to  remind  us 
that  "  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death."  The  surrounding 
lake  was  strictly  tapu,  and  the  wild  fowl,  as  if  conscious  of  their 
security,  allowed  us  to  pass  without  taking  wing.  When  we 
entered  the  pa,  which  we  did  in  a  long  line  headed  by  myself, 
we  received  a  suspicious  welcome  from  a  few  females.  We 
sat  down  in  silence  :  the  usual  crying  when  friends  meet  was 
omitted.  Opposite  to  us  were  Herekiekie  and  the  murderers 
of  our  poor  friends.  Not  a  word  was  spoken  on  either  side 
for  full  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Every  now  and  then  fresh 
parties  kept  arriving,  most  of  them  carrying  their  guns.  At 
last  Hemapo,  the  next  to  Herekiekie,  arose.  He  acknow- 
ledged the  sin  committed,  and  deplored  that  we — his  relatives 


MANIHERA  AND   KBBSOPA.  365 

and  a  Minister — should  thus  be  compelled  to  come  without 
exchanging  the  usual  tangi,  and  receiving  the  accustomed  wel- 
come. He  said  much  more^  but  not  liking  on  this  occasion  to 
take  notes,  when  we  knew  not  how  we  were  to  be  received,  the 
rest  is  forgotten.  Tahana  arose,  and  spoke  for  some  time 
very  earnestly,  telling  them  that  their  present  work  was  of  a 
new  kind — that  even  their  forefathers  would  have  been  ashamed 
of  it — ^and,  therefore,  our  visit  was  in  a  new  way ;  had  we 
not  been  influenced  by  a  kindly  feeling,  we  should  not  have 
come  at  all ;  that  now  we  could  not  give  them  our  hands,  or 
join  in  the  cry  of  friendship.  One  of  the  opposite  party  then 
got  up,  and  said,  he  had  heard  that  we  were  going  to  Auck- 
land to  get  Te  Werowero  to  come  against'  them ;  they  were 
all  one;  they  were  all  one;  they  were  prepared  for  the 
worst ;  they  were  not  sorry  for  the  deed,  and  could  not  forget 
the  death  of  their  friends.  Te  Huiatahi  said,  His  heart  was 
not  at  all  dark  for  what  he  had  done ;  he  did  not  however  wish 
to  continue  the  evil,  or  to  carry  it  further — it  was  done  in 
accordance  with  their  ritenga  (custom).  William  and  another 
of  my  natives  also  spoke — then  I  addressed  them.  I  told  them 
this  was  my  first  sorrowful  visit  to  their  place,  but  still  it  was 
a  visit  of  love,  or  I  should  have  stayed  at  home ;  we  did  not,  it 
was  true,  tangi  (cry)  with  our  eyes,  but  we  did  with  our  hearts : 
we  had  come,  not  to  avenge,  but  to  avoid  further  shedding  of 
blood;  the  dead  were  the  servants  of  God,  and  died  in  doing 
their  duty :  we  left  vengeance  to  Him  who  has  said,  "  Ven- 
geance is  mine !  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord."  We  trusted 
that  they  would  be  led  to  see  the  enormity  of  their  crime,  and 
repent  of  it :  that  now  the  blood  of  Kereopa  and  Manihera 
had  been  shed,  they  could  not  be  brought  again  to  life  on 
earth — they  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  reward,  and  it  was 
great :  but  sufficient  blood  had  been  shed,  and  it  was  not  our 
wish  that  any  should  avenge  their  death:  they  had  killed 
them,  it  is  true,  in  accordance  with  their  ancient  customs, 
and  we  wished  their  blood  to  be  the  price  of  a  permanent 
peace  between  their  tribes,  that  henceforth  love  might  prevail : 
that  if  they  agreed  to  my  proposal,  one  of  their  Chiefs  should 
go  back  with  my  children  and  make  peace  with  the  Nga  ti  ruanui. 


366  MAHIHBBA  AND  KHKBOPA. 

Herekiekie  said.  He  fally  agreed  to  my  proposal ;  aUhougfa 
he  was  not  one  of  the  mnrderent — ^fbr  if  he  had  been  at  home, 
he  shoiild  have  prevented  the  deed-*-still  it  was  done  by  bia 
tribe.  Henceforth,  the  Nga  ti  ruanui  might  come  to  hk  pa, 
and  they  should  be  welcome*  He  thanked  me  for  coming, 
and  hoped  now  we  should  be  friends  again  ;  that  we  should 
eat  with  them  and  exchange  salutations.  One  thing  only  re~ 
mained,  and  that  was  to  know  whether  the  Nga  ti  ruanui  would 
agree  to  my  proposal  Aperaniko  here  jumped  up,  and  saiif 
their  Minister  was  the  Nga  ti  ruanui ;  he  came  as  their  repre- 
sentative; they  had  left  all  with  him;  and  whatever  he  did 
they  would  agree  to.  I  told  them,  sorrowful  as  the  Nga 
ti  ruanui  were,  they  sought  no  revenge,  but  left  all  to  Ood. 
It  was  arranged  that  William  and  Tahana  should  return,  and 
finally  settle  who  shoiild  go  with  them  as  ambassadors  of 
peace ;  and  then,  though  pressed  to  eat  or  shako  hands^  we 
arose,  and  silently  returned  to  our  canoe.  They  followed,  and 
bade  us  farewell.  I  was  thankful  that  the  affidr  had  so  far 
terminated  satisfactorily,  and  I  felt  I  could  not  be  sufficiently 
thankful  for  this  answer  to  my  prayera  that  I  might  be  made 
instrumental  in  putting  an  end  to  what  had  threatened  to 
bring  on  a  general  war.  The  Christian  natives,  both  here 
and  at  Rotorua,  and  even  Waikato,  were  prepar^  to  rise.  I 
rejoiced  to  see  their  abhorrence  of  the  deed ;  but  if  they  were 
to  take  up  the  cause,  the  evil  would  only  be  increased.* 

Thence  we  went  to  Waiariki,  the  place  where  our  dear 
departed  friends  last  slept,  and  near  to  which  they  are  buried. 
A  neat  double  fence  surrounds  the  sacred  spot.  We  sang  a 
hymn  standing  around  it,  and  I  addressed  our  party  from 
the  words,  '*  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth :  Yea  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 
their  labours."  Many  a  tear  was  shed.  We  kneeled  down,  and 
I  offered  up  a  prayer — that  the  same  hope  which  had  sustained 
Manihera  and  Kereopa,  and  carried  them  triumphantly  through, 
might  sustain  us  in  our  dying  hour,  and  that  their  precious 
blood,  here  poured  out,  might  not  fall  into  the  ground  in  vain, 

*  Hekairo,  the  Chief  of  Rotorua,  afterwards  did  make  war  on  the  murderers, 
and  plundered  their  place. 


MANIHERA  AND  KXBMOTA.  867 

but  be  blessed  to  the  convenioQ  of  those  by  whom  it  was  shed, 
and  become  the  means  of  dispelling  the  darkness  of  this  tribe 
to  spiritual  things. 

Hence  we  reached  Wai  Marino,  a  Christian  pa,  where  a 
very  indignant  feeling  prevailed  on  account  of  the  murder. 
They  doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  parties ;  but  still,  I  think, 
will  accede  to  my  wishes  for  peace.  We  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained, and  remained  there  for  the  night.  In  my  discourse,  I 
told  them,  if  they  were  to  take  up  arms  and  shed  blood  they 
would  just  be  doing  what  the  Devil  would  wish  them,  as  the 
most  likely  way  of  getting  them  again  into  his  power.  I 
addressed  them  from  the  verse,  ''  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth." 

We  reached  Motutere  about  noon  the  next  day.  Here  we 
had  the  usual  cry,  and  then  speeches.  They  first  bade  us 
welcome,  but  inquired  what  was  the  object  of  our  coming. 
Was  it  to  see  the  Church  trampled  under  foot,  and  the  ser- 
vants of  God  slain  ?  Was  it  to  give  our  hands  to  the  murderers  ? 
If  this  were  the  case,  Rangipo*  would  be  closed  against  us, 
and  there  would  be  no  coming  here  in  safety.  Others  spoke 
in  the  same  strain.  I  said,  I  might  also  ask  them  what  was 
the  good  of  their  words.  Did  God  establish  His  Church  here 
that  it  might  continue  war  ?  Was  not  the  Devil  the  author 
of  it  ?  Had  they  not  sufiiciendy  felt  the  evil  of  it  in  former 
days  to  prevent  their  commencing  it  again?  Would  God 
permit  His  Church  to  be  trampled  under  foot  ?  Could  they 
extinguish  the  light  of  the  sun  ?  God  was  the  head  of  the 
Church,  and  we  were  the  members  of  it — ^was  it  right  that  the 
members  should  act  without  the  head  ?  The  foundation  of 
the  Church  was  love — ^would  it  be  seen  if  we  rose  up  and  killed 
one  another  ?  Was  it  not  our  safest  way  to  leave  all  with 
God,  and  trust  to  him  for  the  termination  of  this  sad  afiair  ? 

I  also  sent  a  letter  to  Hikairo,  and  to  all  the  teachers  of 
Rotorua,  dissuading  them  from  taking  up  arms  to  avenge  these 
murders,  but  recommending  them  to  leave  all  with  God. 

I  left  Taupo  with  the  conviction  that  those  *'  gloomy  hills 

*  The  name  of  the  road  from  Wanganui  across  the  Tongariro  plains  to 
Taupo. 


368  MAJaHERA   AND   KEREOPA. 

of  darkness**  would  soon  be  made  light  by  the  bright  beams  of 
the  Gospeh  I  was  accompanied  to  Auckland  by  a  native^ 
who  was  deputed  by  his  tribe  to  attend  the  Central  Committee, 
and  apply  for  a  minister  to  be  sent  to  Taupo.  At  Auckland 
we  received  the  news  of  a  barbarous  murder  of  a  settler's 
family  at  Wanganui ;  this  hastened  my  return.  The  Governor 
kindly  offered  me  a  passage  in  the  Inflexible  steamer  to  Wan- 
ganui^ in  which  he  also  went  himself;  and  grieved  was  I  to 
find^  on  my  arrival^  what  a  change  had  taken  place  since  my 
departure.  A  Chief  had  been  nearly  killed  by  the  carelessness 
of  a  young  midshipman,  whose  pistol  by  some  means  went  off; 
when  another  heathen  and  hostile  Chief  immediately  went 
and  murdered  the  family  already  alluded  to,  in  order  to  bring 
the  Christian  natives  into  collision  with  the  military.  The 
Putiki  natives,  with  a  very  laudable  desire  of  vindicating  their 
character,  went  and  arrested  the  murderers,  four  of  whom 
were  executed.  This  act  caused  the  smothered  flames  of  war 
to  break  out.  A  large  hostile  force,  amounting  to  six  hundred 
men,  was  soon  collected,  wliich  commenced  with  burning  the 
houses  of  all  the  out-settlers,  and  slaughtering  their  cattle. 

But  after  a  few  months  war  passed  away,  peace  revisited  us. 
I,  therefore,  lost  no  time  in  again  paying  Taupo  a  visit.  The 
Tokanu  natives,  according  to  their  promise,  had  sent  two  of 
their  Chiefs  to  the  Nga  ti  ruanui  natives,  and  had  made  peace : 
they  were  very  kindly  and  hospitably  received,  and  the  long 
feud  which  had  existed  between  their  respective  tribes,  was 
terminated.  Here,  then,  were  the  first  fruits  of  Manihera*s 
death  seen — it  had  caused  peace. 

I  took  with  me  to  Taupo  a  young  Chief  named  Piripi,  from 
Waokena  (he  was  the  successor  to  Manihera),  as  the  teacher 
of  his  place,  that  he  might  return  the  visit  of  the  Tokanu 
Chiefs.  The  Nga  ti  ruanuii  however,  would  not  permit  him 
to  go,  unless  he  went  in  my  company.  We  safely  reached 
Tokanu,  and  a  feast  was  made  in  honor  of  our  arrival.  I 
found  a  very  different  feeling  to  that  formerly  displayed ;  all 
expressed  a  desire  for  instruction.  I  proposed,  therefore,  as 
a  token  of  their  sincerity,  that  we  should  all  go  and  hold 
service  by  the  martyrs*  graves ;  they  agreed  to  my  wish,  and 


MANIHERA  AND  KEBSOPA.  369 

the  inhabitants  in  a  body  accompanied  me  there.  We  passed 
by  the  spot  where  they  fell ;  which  was  marked,  as  already 
said,  by  two  hollow  places.  On  reaching  the  graves,  I  preached 
to  the  assembly.  The  sight  was  affecting:  there  were  the 
memorials  of  the  deed  before  us,  and  there  were  the  perpetrators 
of  it,  with  down-cast  heads,  listening  to  that  Gospel  which 
Manihera  and  his  companion  came  to  proclaim.  They  reminded 
me  of  Saul,  once  consenting  to  the  death  of  Stephen,  afterwards 
a  convert  to  the  same  faith,  which  he  had  before  opposed. 

We  returned  to  the  pa,  and  Huiatahi,  the  murderer,  himself 
proposed  that  a  Missionary  should  be  sent  to  his  place  at 
Rotoaira,  and  be  stationed  at  Poutu,  where  he  would  give  a 
most  suitable  spot,  and  also  erect  both  a  Church  and  a  Mission- 
bouse  as  well.  Many  also  came  forward  as  candidates  for 
baptism. 

This  was  indeed  a  great  and  wonderful  change,  and  it  was 
evidently  the  Lord*s  doing. 

I  left,  with  the  promise  of  again  returning  as  soon  as  the 
Church  should  be  completed,  to  open  it,  and  to  receive  the 
first  fruits  of  the  place  in  it,  leaving  Piripi  behind,  as  the 
Chiefs  were  desirous  that  he  should  remain  and  partake  of 
their  hospitality. 

After  some  time,  I  received  an  announcement  that  the 
Church  was  completed,  and  only  wanted  me  to  open  it. 
Accordingly,  I  went  to  Rotoaira,  accompanied  by  a  party  of 
my  teachers ;  we  were  met  at  some  distance  from  the  pa,  with 
horses  for  us.  One  native,  immediately  we  were  seen,  returned 
to  make  the  announcement  of  our  approach.  We  were 
received  with  every  demonstration  of  joy. 

The  Church  was  an  extremely  neat,  I  may  say  elegant, 
building.  I  had  no  sooner  taken  some  refreshment,  than  a 
crowd  of  candidates  for  baptism  surrounded  my  tent.  I 
received  about  thirty.  Hemapo,  the  brother  of  Herekiekie, 
had  already  been  baptized  by  Mr.  Brown,  and  now  I  appointed 
him  as  the  teacher  for  the  new  Church.  The  service  of  the 
Sabbath  was  very  solemn.  I  administered  the  sacrament  to 
my  own  party,  and  to  Hemapo,  and  then  received  during  the 
evening  service,  these  fruits  of  Manihera*s  death. 

BB 


370  ANDREW  POWBBB. 

On  the  Monday,  when  I  preached  to  them  before  my 
departurey  I  felt  so  overpowered  by  the  sight,  that  I  could  not 
proceed,  and  when  I  left,  the  entire  congregation  followed  me 
for  nearly  a  mile,  and  with  many  tears  bade  me  farewell.  Thus 
terminated  the  Mission  of  Manihera  and  Kereopa. 

Some  of  the  adventures  of  our  sailors  in  the  early  days  of 
our  acquaintance  with  New  Zealand  are  interesting ;  of  such  is 
the  following : — 

On  the  14th  January,  1831,  a  man  named  Andrew  Powers 
entered  the  Wanganui  river ;  he  formed  one  of  a  boat's  crew 
which  came  from  Kapiti  on  a  trading  expedition :  there  were 
three  white  and  one  colored  man  with  him.  They  rowed  as  far 
as  a  sandy  bight,  adjoining  the  South  Bluff,  where  they  landed 
to  dine,  and  whilst  doing  so,  a  party  of  natives  joined  company, 
which  had  some  cooked  food  with  them,  two  baskets  of  which 
they  gave  to  the  party.  Whilst  eating  their  dinner,  one  of 
the  natives  went  and  sat  in  the  boat;  a  man  named  Joe, 
called  out  to  Powers  to  go  and  j;um  him  out.  Powers 
replied,  you  had  better  do  so  yourself,  as  you  know  more 
about  Maori  than  I  do.  Joe  then  got  up,  and  asked  him 
what  he  wanted  in  the  boat.  The  native  replied,  to  look  at 
him.  The  sailor  commanded  him  to  leave,  and  when  the 
native  continued  to  sit  still,  he  took  hold  of  his  mat  to  drag 
him  out.  The  native  immediately  arose  and  drew  out  his 
patiti  (hatchet),  from  beneath  his  mat,  and  cleft  his  skull  open* 
Powers  went  to  help  his  comrade,  when  a  native  named  Wetu, 
knocked  him  overboard,  and  as  he  laid  hold  of  the  boat  with 
one  hand,  they  immediately  struck  him  over  it,  and  made  him 
let  go.  He  then  put  his  hand  on  the  side  of  their  canoe,  and 
got  in.  The  natives  pulled  him  down  on  his  belly,  one  sitting 
on  his  legs  and  another  on  his  arms,  and  so  held  him  for  some 
time ;  when  he  was  permitted  to  look  up,  he  found  three  of 
his  comrades  had  been  killed.  The  man  of  color  had  been 
spared.  They  cut  off  the  heads  of  Joe  and  Tom,  and  placed 
them  to  steep  in  a  little  water  hole  above  the  cliff,  down  which 
a  small  stream  trickled.  One  of  these  heads  was  afterwards 
dried  in  the  usual  way  for  sale ;  the  other  being  very  much 


ANDREW  POWERS.  371 

chopped  about  in  the  face  with  the  hatchet^  he  thinks  was  not 
preserved.  The  bodies  of  two  of  the  victims  were  cut  up  and 
eaten.  Afterwards,  when  Powers  had  been  some  time  with 
them,  he  asked  what  had  become  of  the  third  man  who  was 
killed,  as  he  only  saw  two  of  their  heads.  They  told  him^ 
when  he  was  killed  he  cried,  and  their  atuas  said,  they  were 
not  to  eat  the  bodies  of  men  who  cried  from  fear  of  death, 
lest  it  should  make  them  cowards;  so  they  buried  his  body 
in  the  sand. 

At  the  time  when  this  affidr  took  place,  there  were  no 
natives  residing  near  the  sea.  Futiki  had  been  destroyed  two 
years  before,  by  Te  Rauparaha.  The  men  who  seized  the  boat 
where  Taupo  natives,  and  immediately  afterwards  went  up 
the  river.  Powers  accompanied  Tapuae  and  his  son  Wetu. 
The  black  man  going  with  another  division  of  the  party, 
he  saw  no  more  of  him.  The  party  of  Wetu  returned  by 
Wanganui-a-te-ao  and  Rotoaira.  As  they  went  up  the  river, 
the  people  of  some  pa  they  stopped  at,  gave  Tapuae  and 
Wetu  a  basket  of  human  flesh,  and  were  going  to  give  some 
to  Powers,  but  Tapuae  told  them  not  to  do  so,  as  foreigners 
did  not  eat  that  kind  of  food,  and  Tapuae  said,  neither  would 
his  son  eat  it ;  he  therefore  returned  the  present*  The  natives, 
astonished,  enquired,  what  is  he  tapu^  that  he  cannot  eat  human 
flesh  ?  No,  replied  his  father,  the  smell  of  it  always  makes 
my  son  sick,  (a  convincing  proof  there  were  some  at  least  whose 
feelings  revolted  at  such  unnatural  food). 

On  reaching  Taupo,  Te  Wetu  said,  he  must  take  him  to  see 
the  king ;  so  they  went  to  Waitaha-nui,  and  there  placed  him 
in  the  verandah  of  a  house.  In  a  little  time  a  native  brought 
a  new  floor  mat,  and  spread  it  upon  the  ground,  and  bid  him 
sit  upon  it.  Shortly  afterwards,  they  said,  our  king  is  coming, 
and  a  very  stout  majestic  native  made  his  appearance,  who 
came  and  sat  by  his  side  on  the  mat ;  this  no  doubt  was  Te 
Heuheu. 

The  king  spoke  to  him  very  kindly,  and  asked  him  if  it  was 
true  that  his  men  had  killed  and  eaten  his  comrades.  Powers 
was  afraid  to  reply,  and  therefore  pretended  not  to  understand 
what  he  said.   He  then  sent  for  a  little  slave  boy  who  had  lived 

BB  2 


372  ANDREW   POWBBS. 

a  loDg  time  at  Taranaki  with  some  European,  and  asked  him 
all  the  particulars,  whether  any  provocation  had  been  given 
by  the  Europeans,  he  was  told  no ;  he  then  called  for  his 
patiti,  one  of  his  wives  went  for  it ;  Powers  said  he  trembled^ 
and  felt  that  his  time  was  come ;  he  watched  anxiously  the 
woman  as  she  went  along  a  narrow  alley  in  the  pa,  until  she 
disappeared.  Te  Heuheu,  the  king,  jumped  up,  and  went 
into  the  house,  but  soon  came  out  again,  clad  in  his  best  mat, 
with  one  round  his  loins,  and  a  musket  in  each  hand.  He  then 
strode  into  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  brandishing  his  muskets, 
and  making  a  very  animated  speech,  expressing  his  grief  and 
shame  that  such  an  act  should  have  been  committed  by  any  of 
his  tribe.  He  said.  Did  I  send  you  to  the  sea  to  murder  and 
eat  the  Europeans  who  had  done  you  no  injury  ?  How  can  I 
hold  up  my  face  when  I  go  to  Maketu,  or  any  place  where  the 
Europeans  come;  hitherto  they  have  regarded  me  as  their 
friend,  but  now  they  will  say  you  are  the  Chief  who  kills  and 
eats  our  countrymen  ;  what  folly  have  you  been  guilty  of? 
Who  is  it  that  supplies  you  with  guns  ?  brandishing  those  in 
his  hands.  Is  it  not  the  Europeans  ?  Will  they  do  so  now 
they  know  what  you  have  done  ?  After  making  a  very  long 
harangue  in  this  strain,  he  came  and  again  sat  down  by  Powers, 
and  put  some  further  questions  to  him,  which  he  pretended  not 
to  comprehend ;  he  therefore  soon  gave  over  talking  to  him. 
Going  into  his  house,  he  returned  with  three  figs  of  tobacco, 
and  a  short  glazed  pipe,  with  a  head  on  it,  which  he  gave  to 
Powers,  who  made  signs  that  he  did  not  smoke,  and  refused 
to  take  the  present.  The  king  said,  Very  well,  if  you  do  not 
smoke  yourself,  take  the  gift  and  give  it  to  your  Chief. 

From  Taupo,  they  went  to  Rotorua,  where  Powers  was 
taken  to  a  man  employed  by  a  trader  named  Scott,  of  Tau- 
ranga,  to  buy  for  him  of  the  natives.  His  Chief  wanted  the 
man  to  redeem  him.  The  man  wrote  to  Scott  to  ask  his  per- 
mission to  do  so  ;  Scott  replied,  that  he  had  better  return  to 
the  West  Coast,  from  whence  he  came ;  but  if  he  wanted  to 
redeem  him,  he  must  sign  a  bond  for  his  repayment,  and  agree 
to  the  price  of  the  goods  given  for  him. 

Powers  was  not  then  ransomed,  but  carried  on  to  Maketu ; 


Jackson's  story.  373 

there  he  found  a  trader  named  Tapsall^  a  Norwegian,  and  a 
countryman,  who  immediately  redeemed  him  for  twenty-five 
pounds  of  tobacco.  Tapsall  was  the  first  European  who  was 
regularly  married  to  a  native ;  this  was  done  by  Mr.  Marsden. 
In  1839 1  saw  him  with  his  wife  and  family,  which  appeared  very 
numerous,  encamped  under  his  boat,  which  was  drawn  up  on 
the  beach  at  Hekawa,  Hicks'  Bay,  where  he  was  then  trading. 

Andrew  Powers  has  been  living  many  years  at  Wanganui ; 
he  is  a  fine  hale  old  man,  and  will  be  seventy-one  next 
Christmas,  if  he  lives  so  long.  This  account  was  taken  from 
him  in  September,  1850. 

There  is  still  another  story  connected  with  the  same  indivi- 
dual, which  is  illustrative  of  the  change  which  the  Gospel  has 
produced  in  New  Zealand,  in  the  treatment  the  same  individual 
experienced  at  two  different  periods  with  an  interval  of  about 
twenty  years  between.  In  fact,  in  Andrew  Powers*  story  we 
have  two  epochs  clearly  defined,  that  of  heathenism  and  that 
of  Christianity. 

Returning  from  Wellington  along  the  sea  shore,  a  year  or  two 
ago,  he  was  taken  ill  and  laid  down  on  a  sandhill,  unable  to  pro- 
ceed further.  A  native  who  was  travelling  that  way  saw  him, 
and  went  on  to  Otaki,  where  he  told  the  natives  that  he  had 
seen  apakeha  (European)  laid  on  the  shore  very  ill ;  and  what 
did  you  do  to  him  ?  said  Tamihana,  the  son  of  Te  Rauparaha, 
the  Chief.  Nothing  at  all.  He  was  afraid  if  he  died  the  Euro- 
peans would  say  he  had  killed  him.  Well,  then,  said  Tamihana, 
you  are  like  the  man  in  the  parable,  who  went  on  the  other  side 
of  the  way.  He  then  went  and  saddled  his  horses,  and  he  and 
his  wife  rode  off  to  see  the  poor  man ;  they  found  him  very  ill, 
and  gave  him  some  refreshment  which  they  had  brought  with 
them ;  they  then  got  bearers,  and  had  him  carried  to  their 
house,  where  he  stayed  many  days,  until  he  was  quite  well. 
The  poor  old  man,  when  he  related  this  story,  said,  they  may 
say  what  they  like,  but,  whether  a  Maori  or  not,  Tamihana 
te  Rauparaha  is  a  gentleman. 

The  following  story,  though  not  strictly  relating  to  New 
Zealand,  describes  the  curious  religious  customs  of  an  island 


374  JACK80N*8  STORY. 

to  the  north  of  New  Zealand,  and  is  extremely  interesting. 
A  man  named  Jackson,  who  was  out  whaling  in  the  Cape 
Packet,  related  the  following  story  of  an  adventure  which  befel  ^ 
him  at  Alatana,  one  of  the  new  Hebrides.  A  boat's  crew  was 
sent  on  shore  to  cut  firewood ;  he  was  one  of  the  party,  but 
having  drank  too  much,  he  went  into  the  bush,  laid  down 
amongst  the  trees,  and  fell  asleep,  and  so  soundly,  that  when 
his  companions  called  him  he  did  not  awake,  neither  could 
they  find  him :  having  called  and  searched  for  some  time,  they 
left  and  returned  to  the  ship. 

When  he  awoke,  he  got  up  and  looked  for  the  boat,  but  found 
to  his  dismay  that  it  had  gone.  He  looked  about,  and  saw  two 
natives  on  a  small  island,  only  separated  from  the  one  he  was 
on  by  a  deep  narrow  channel ;  he  fled  and  concealed  himself. 
Afterwards  four  men  landed  from  a  canoe  on  his  island ;  they 
sat  down  with  their  backs  turned  to  him ;  he  approached  them 
without  noise,  crawling  on  his  knees ;  when  he  reached  them, 
which  he  did  unseen,  he  stood  up.  The  natives  were  so  much 
alarmed  at  the  sudden  apparition  of  a  white  man,  that  they 
fell  down  flat  on  the  ground,  as  though  they  were  dead ; 
afterwards  they  arose,  and  sung  a  song  to  him.  Most  probably 
this  was  a  karakia,  as  they  would  take  him  for  a  god,  for 
most  black  tribes  think  the  gods  and  spirits  of  ancestors  are 
white. 

After  some  time,  they  beckoned  for  him  to  follow  them, 
which  he  did ;  he  was  led  inland  about  ten  miles.  As  they 
went,  they  crossed  a  brook;  he  was  going  to  drink,  when 
they  pulled  him  back,  fearing,  perhaps,  if  he  did  so,  that  the 
water  would  be  tapu^  and  they  could  not  afterwards  drink 
of  it  without  dying.  But  one  of  them  oflered  him  some  urine 
in  a  clam  shell  to  drink.  (The  New  Zealand  natives  think  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Reinga  or  Hades  feed  on  human  excre- 
ments and  drink  urine,  and  this  appears  to  have  a  reference 
to  a  similar  idea ;  they  might  further  suppose,  if  permitted 
to  partake  of  earthly  food,  he  would  not  be  able  to  return 
to  Purutu,  or  Paradise,  as  the  Tonga  natives  report  was  the 
case  with  their  first  ancestors.)  After  passing  through  -beautiful 
cultivations,  bordered  with  neat  fences  of  reed,  and  intersected 


Jackson's  stort.  375 

by  narrow  roads,  they  came  to  a  village.  He  was  taken  to 
a  large  court  surrounded  with  cocoa-nut  trees,  and  placed  by 
the  side  of  a  Chief,  whose  wife  was  sitting  on  the  other  side 
of  him. 

They  then  ojBered  him  a  raw  taro,  which  he  refused,  and 
afterwards  beat  up  a  taro  with  the  scrapings  of  some  red 
root,  which  they  wrapped  up  in  a  leaf  and  placed  on  the  fire, 
and  when  cooked  gave  it  to  him ;  he  fancied  it  was  poison, 
and  privately  conveyed  it  into  his  bosom,  pretending  he  had 
eaten  it.  He  gave  his  cap  to  one  of  the  Chiefs,  who  had 
before  asked  for  it,  and  several  other  things  also,  which  they 
fancied.  They  then  ate  a  cocoa  nut,  and  gave  him  the  shell, 
filled  with  urine. 

Afterwards,  about  twenty  natives  came,  each  bringing  a 
load  of  wood,  all  cut  of  equal  length,  which  they  piled  up 
like  a  chimney,  and  made  a  sign  for  him  to  sit  on  a  stone- 
flag  in  front  of  the  fire,  and  then  applied  a  light  to  the  pile, 
which  flamed  up  almost  instantaneously,  and  most  beautifully, 
blazing  out  on  all  sides;  his  seat  became  very  hot,  but  he 
maintained  his  post  on  the  stone  until  the  whole  was  consumed. 

Afterwards  about  fifty  girls  came  and  were  ranged  around 
him,  and  signs  were  made  for  him  to  select  one  of  them.  This 
he  also  declined  doing. 

A  Chief,  having  three  tail  feathers  of  the  cock  stuck  in  his 
hair,  came  and  turned  himself  parderriire  to  Jackson's  face. 
This  act  terminated  their  curious  ceremonies.  Suddenly  all 
disappeared,  and  the  Chief  beckoned  him  to  enter  his  house. 
On  one  side  there  was  a  neat  bed,  made  of  soft  mats ;  the 
Chief  laid  himself  upon  it,  and  pointed  to  the  damp  sand, 
intimating  that  was  to  be  his  resting  place. 

Two  natives  came  in,  one  laid  on  either  side  of  him,  placing 
his  spear  by  Jackson's  side,  two  others  laid  down  with  their 
heads  touching  his,  and  two  more  by  his  feet,  whilst  another 
two  threw  themselves  down  near  the  door. 

When  the  cock  crew,  they  arose,  one  by  one,  and  went  out. 
He  felt  extremely  hungry,  and  determined  to  obtain,  if  possible, 
some  of  the  cocoa  nuts  from  the  trees  which  grew  in  the  Chief's 
court-yard.     He,  therefore,  gently  got  up,  and  went  out,  and 


376  Jackson's  btobt. 

Bitoceeded  in  climbing  one  of  the  trees,  from  whicli  he  took  a 
nut.  He  had  just  managed  to  scratch  a  hole  in  it  with  his 
fingers,  when  he  was  perceived,  and  dragged  back  again. 

In  the  morning  he  was  escorted  back  to  the  coast,  and  then 
there  was  a  fight  aboat  him,  some  appearing  to  wish  him  to  be 
given  up,  others  opposing.  Several  lives  were  lost,  but  a  boat 
came  off,  and  he  was  rescued. 

It  was  customary  in  some  parts  of  New  Zealand  to  place  a 
raw  taro  in  the  hand  of  a  corpse  before  they  uttered  an  incan- 
tation.  This  was  called  h«  wakaake,  to  enable  the  spirit  to 
ascend  to  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MEANS  OF  SUPPORT. 

The  New  Zealanden  have  always  been  an  agricultuial  people ; 
their  countiy  not  naturally  afToiding  the  means  of  subaistence 
in  sufficient  abundance  to  support  them,  without  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil. 

Their  ancestors  brought  the  kumara,  or  sweet  potatoe — the 
taro—&n  arum — and  the  hue,  or  calabash,  with  them  from 
Hawaiki :  these  were  the  only  vegetables  the;  possessed,  and 
they  carefully  cultivated  them  in  large  quantities,  until  the 
arrival  of  Europeans,  who  gave  them  the  potatoe,  the  value  of 
which  waa  ao  soon  discovered,  that  now  it  may  be  said  to  be 
their  staple  article  of  food.  It  is  far  more  aniTersally  cnl- 
tivated  than  the  kumarOf  from  its  taking  less  labour  in 
planting,  and  yielding  a  more  certain  and  larger  return. — 


378  MEANS  OF  J5UPP0RT. 

The  kumara  requires  not  only  a  warm  aspect^  but  also,  in 
general,  an  artificial  soil ;  sand  or  gravel  being  laid  on  the 
ground  to  the  depth  of  six  inches.  So  also  the  taro,  which 
needs  the  aid  of  bush  screens  and  other  expedients  to  make 
it  flourish.  These  also  soon  exhaust  the  soil ;  three  years* 
cropping  with  kumara  being,  in  general,  all  that  can  be  ob- 
tained from  one  spot.  The  place  is  then  abandoned,  and 
another  selected ;  but  this  abandonment  is  only  for  a  certain 
space  of  time.  Instead  of  turning  up  the  soil,  and  suffering 
it  to  lay  in  fallow  a  season,  their  method  of  renewing  it  is 
to  allow  it  to  remain  unoccupied  until  it  is  covered  with  a 
certain  growth  of  wood,  if  situated  in  wood  land,  or  of  fern, 
if  situated  in  fern  land,  which  requires  a  period  of  from  seven 
to  fourteen  years,  when  the  spot  is  again  cleared  and  planted. 
Thus,  many  places,  which  appear  never  to  have  been  touched 
by  the  hand  of  man,  are  pointed  out  as  having  been  the  farms 
of  some  ancestor,  and,  when  the  place  is  more  closely  re- 
garded, it  will  be  found  destitute  of  all  old  timber.  The 
kumara^  tarOy  and  even  potatoe  grounds,  are  generally  selected 
on  the  sides  of  hills,  having  a  northern  aspect;  by  this  de- 
clivity towards  the  sun,  they  gain  an  increased  degree  of  heat. 

The  hue  ipi  gourd)  is  everywhere  raised,  and  it  is,  indeed,  an 
excellent  vegetable.  It  bears  a  white  flower,  and  produces  a 
calabash,  which  is  sometimes  of  very  large  dimensions.  When 
young,  it  is  a  delicious  vegetable,  sweet,  juicy,  and  extremely 
savoury.  When  ripe,  it  is  of  the  greatest  use«  supplying  the 
place  of  crockery.  In  it,  the  New  Zealander  carries  his  water, 
his  stores,  potted  birds,  fish  or  flesh ;  he  also  uses  it  as  a  dish, 
and  even  as  a  lamp.  It  is  often  beautifully  ornamented  with 
tattooing.  The  natives  have  a  very  singular  idea  respecting 
the  hue^  that  the  seed  can*  always  be  procured  from  the  entrails 
of  the  sperm  whale,  which  they  affirm  they  have  frequently 
verified.  They  account  for  it  by  saying,  that  in  Hawaiki  the 
hue  grows  spontaneously,  and  bangs  over  the  cliffs  in  great 
quantities,  which,  when  ripe,  fall  into  the  sea,  and  are  de- 
voured by  the  whales,  which  frequent  that  part. 

The  melon  and  pumpkin  are  now  also  cultivated,  as  well 
as  the  cabbage  and  turnip,  which  grow  wild,  having  been 


lASANS  OF  SUPPORT.  379 

introduced  by  Cook ;  maize  and  wheat  have  been  more  recently 
raised,  but  are  now  grown  in  large  quantities. 

To  a  stranger,  the  natural  means  of  support  may  appear  few 
and  insignificant ;  but,  in  early  times,  when  wars  raged,  or 
unfruitful  seasons  destroyed  the  hopes  of  the  kumara  harvest, 
the  New  Zealanders  had  recourse  to  the  indigenous  productions 
of  the  land.  Almost  every  spot  produces  some  kind  of  food, 
the  plains  being  covered  with  the  pteris  esculentis,  or  edible 
fern ;  although  that  which  is  selected  for  food  only  attains  a 
proper  size  on  rich  land.  The  roots  chosen  for  this  purpose 
are  found  about  a  foot  and  a  half  or  two  feet  deep,  and  are  dug 
up  with  a  long  strong  pole,  sharpened  at  one  end,  with  a  rest 
for  the  foot,  called  a  ko.  The  upper  roots  are  stringy,  hard, 
and  harsh  to  the  palate;  but  the  lower  ones  contain  more 
fiurinaceous  matter.  When  dug  up,  they  are  either  stacked  to 
dry,  on  the  spot  for  future  use,  or  eaten  fresh.  The  way  of 
preparing  it  is  to  lay  it  on  the  embers  for  a  short  time,  till  it 
is  sufficiently  roasted  ;  it  is  then  scraped  with  a  shell,  to  take 
off  the  blackened  outside,  and  afterwards  beaten  with  a  wooden 
or  stone  mallet,  to  loosen  the  fibres.  The  natives  sometimes 
pound  it  into  masses,  pulling  out  the  fibres,  and  putting  it  into 
calabashes,  containing  the  juice  of  the  tupakihi.  It  is  eaten 
immediately  it  is  cooked,  and  is  by  no  means  unpalatable ; 
neither  is  it  an  astringent,  as  is  generally  supposed,  but  rather 
the  contrary.  Even  to  the  present  day,  it  is  an  article  much 
prized,  especially  by  the  sick,  who  often  prefer  it  to  other 
food ;  and  it  is  always  taken  by  persons  going  on  a  voyage, 
as  the  best  antidote  for  sea-sickness. 

Several  species  of  the  perei  and  maikaika  (orchis)  are  like- 
wise eaten ;  the  tender  shoot  of  the  nikau  (areca  sapidaj,  and 
of  the  ti  tree  also,  as  well  as  its  tap  root ;  as  those  also  of  the 
tou  These  are  baked  in  a  native  oven,  and,  when  cooked, 
have  a  sweet  and  pleasant  taste.  The  root  of  the  raupo 
(bulrush),  and  the  shoot  of  the  pingao  (a  flag  plant,  growing 
by  the  sea  side),  often  afford  the  hungry  traveller  a  meaL 

The  chief  article  of  food  furnished  by  the  forest  is  the 
mamaku  (a  tree  fern).  The  stem  is  often  twenty  feet  long, 
and  is  all  eaten.     When  the  outside  is  pared  oS,  there  is  a 


380  MEANS  OF   SUPPORT 

medullary  substance,  sometimes  six  inches  in  diameter,  with 
scarcely  any  fibre  in  it ;  this  is  really  an  agreeable  article  of 
food,  slightly  sweet.  When  cooked,  it  is  called  pitau.  It  is 
not  improbable,  that  if  it  were  dried  it  might  be  used  as  sago. 
This  is  an  article  of  food  still  highly  prized  in  winter. 

The  fruit  of  the  rimu  and  kahikatea  pines  also  is  eaten. 
They  produce  a  small  red  berry,  about  the  size  of  a  sweet  pea, 
the  stone  being  outside,  and  it  is  found  in  great  abundance 
every  other  season.  The  berry  of  the  hinau,  though  very 
astringent,  after  it  has  been  steeped  some  time  in  water,  is 
then  made  into  a  kind  of  bread,  which  is  much  relished. 

Fungi  growing  on  dead  timber,  the  harori-tuif  harori-^ua, 
and  several  other  kinds,  although  exactly  like  our  English 
toadstools,  are  equal  in  flavor  and  nutrition  to  the  mushroom. 

But  amongst  all  the  indigenous  fruits,  there  is  none  superior 
to  the  tawera  oipirori  (freysinesiaJfA  species  of  ihe  pandamu, 
which  somewhat  resembles  a  pine  apple ;  both  the  flower  and 
fruit  are  eaten.  The  juice  of  the  tupakihi  (coriaria  iamentosa) 
is  expressed  in  large  quantities,  and  drank ;  it  is  also  boiled 
with  sea-weed,  and  thus  forms  a  jelly,  which  is  very  palatable. 
Several  kinds  of  sea-weed  are  also  eaten  in  large  quantities. 

The  only  terrestrial  animal  originally  found  in  these  islands 
was  a  small  rat,  scarcely  more  than  one-third  the  size  of  the 
imported  one.  Though  now  nearly  extinct  and  seldom  seen, 
it  was  formerly  so  numerous  as  to  form  a  considerable  article 
of  food.  It  was  taken  by  an  ingenious  kind  of  trap,  which 
somewhat  resembles  our  common  mole-trap.  These  were  set 
on  lines  of  road,  which  had  been  made  expressly  for  this  pur- 
pose in  the  forest;  and  they  generally  succeeded  in  taking 
sufficient  at  once  to  feed  the  whole  pa. 

The  kiwi  (apteryx  AustralisJ  was  hunted  at  night  with 
dogs.  The  natives  can  so  closely  imitate  the  cry  of  this  bird, 
that  they  soon  draw  to  them  all  which  may  be  in  that  part 
of  the  forest.  They  generally  carry  a  torch  under  their 
garments  imtil  the  bird  approaches ;  the  light  is  then  suddenly 
produced,  which  so  terrifies  the  bird  that  it  allows  itself  to  be 
secured.     The  kiwi  is  still  abundant  in  some  places. 

The  kakapo,  or  ground  parrot,  is  a  gregarious  bird,  larger 


MEANS  OF  SUPPOBT.  381 

than  the  common  fowl :  it  was  hunted  with  dogs  and  torches 
at  night;  it  is  now  all  but  extinct  in  the  northern  island, 
though  it  is  said  to  be  plentiful  in  the  southern  one. 

The  weka^  or  large  rail,  is  still  found  in  the  interior  of  the 
north  island.  The  natives  imitate  its  cry  so  exactly  that  it 
readily  approaches  them.  This  bird  is  so  pugnacious,  that  if 
a  bit  of  red  cloth,  or  other  rag,  be  tied  to  a  stick,  it  flies  at  it 
immediately,  and  is  thus  easily  caught  by  a  noose  held  in  the 
other  hand. 

The  kereru,  or  wood-pigeon,  is  a  very  fine  bird,  but  very 
stupid.  It  is  frequently  taken  by  placing  a  pole  near  the 
water's  edge,  where  it  is  accustomed  to  drink.  When  it  has 
quenched  its  thirst,  it  alights  upon  this,  which  is  completely 
covered  with  snares  made  of  flax,  where  it  soon  gets  its  legs 
entangled,  and  is  thus  secured.  The  rimu  and  kahikatea  pine 
trees,  when  in  fruit,  are  also  thickly  set  with  snares,  by  which 
means  numbers  are  taken.  The  natives  have  also  a  long  bird- 
spear,  often  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  length,  armed  with  a 
sharp  barb  of  bone.  With  this  they  silently  approach  the  tree 
on  which  the  bird  has  alighted,  and  it  is,  generally,  so  stupid 
as  to  stay  and  be  speared,  although  it  sees  its  enemy  approach. 
If  the  tree  be  one  to  which  the  pigeon  is  accustomed  to  resort, 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  fruit,  the  natives  then  construct 
a  ladder  by  ingeniously  binding  two  young  trees  together, 
which  may  be  growing  near,  and  use  them  for  that  purpose, 
by  which  means  they  can  approach  the  bird  with  the  greater 
facility.  Great  numbers  of  pigeons  are  thus  captured.  The 
natives  frequently  extract  all  their  bones,  and,  when  cooked, 
place  them  in  a  large  papa — a  vessel  made  of  the  totara 
bark ;  thus  preserved  in  their  own  fat,  they  will  keep  many 
months.  The  tui,  when  iu  season,  is  very  fat,  and  is  also  pre- 
served in  a  similar  way.  It  is  a  most  lively  bird,  and  can 
only  be  taken  by  snares. 

The  kaka^  or  great  brown  parrot,  one  of  the  largest  of  its 
family,  is  also  eaten.  It  is  generally  caught  by  means  of  a 
tame  parrot,  which  is  used  as  a  decoy.  A  pole  is  stuck  in  the 
ground,  in  an  inclined  position,  in  some  shady  part  of  the 
forest,  on  which  the  tame  parrot  is  placed.     The  native  forms 


382  MEANS  OF  SUPFOBT. 

a  little  arbor  with  a  few  large  leaves  of  the  fern-tree,  in  which 
he  sits  concealed  with  a  small  stick  in  his  hand.  The  call  of  the 
tame  bird  soon  attracts  some  of  its  wild  companions,  which, 
when  they  alight  on  the  pole,  are  enticed  still  lower,  until  the 
fowler  either  seizes  them  with  his  hand,  or  knocks  them  down 
with  his  stick. 

The  kakarikiy  or  small  green  parrot,  is  taken  by  snares ;  it 
is  a  delicious  bird,  and  very  abundant. 

The  titiy  or  mutton-bird,  is  a  sea  bird,  which  goes  inland 
at  night,  just  as  the  light  wanes.  It  flies  about  in  great  num- 
bers, and  fills  the  air  with  its  cries.  To  effect  its  capture,  t)ie 
natives  select  some  spot  on  the  edge  of  a  lofty  precipice, 
where  they  cut  down  all  the  trees  which  intercept  the  view, 
and  there  they  build  a  little  shed  close  to  the  veige.  They 
then  light  a  bright  fire,  behind  which  they  sit,  each  armed  with 
a  long  stick.  The  titi  are  attracted  by  the  light,  and  fiy  close 
by  in  great  numbers,  so  that  they  are  easily  knocked  down  as 
quick  as  possible ;  and  thus,  in  one  night,  several  hundreds  are 
often  killed,  which,  like  the  pigeon,  they  preserve  in  their  own 
fat  for  future  use. 

These  are  the  principal  birds  upon  which  the  New  Zea- 
landers  lived ;  and,  though  there  were  many  smaller  varieties 
which  were  also  eaten,  some  of  which  are  now  extinct,  it 
is  not  necessary  here  to  enumerate  them.  The  water-fowl,  the 
wild  duck,  wioy  pukeko,  and  several  others— were  more  rarely 
captured,  and  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  contributed  much 
to  their  support. 

Fishing  may  be  considered  as  of  two  kinds; — afresh  water 
and  salt.  New  Zealand  is  not  rich  in  its  Aresh  water  fish,  yet, 
such  as  they  are,  they  are  generaUy  taken  in  large  quantities, 
and  are  all  very  good  eating.  The  principal  ones  are  the  tuna, 
(eel,)  the  pipiharau,  (lamprey,)  the  kokopu,  and  inanga.  The 
eel  is  shorter  and  thicker  than  the  English  one,  although  some 
measure  nearly  six  feet  in  length,  being  as  thick  as  an  ordinary 
man's  thigh,  and  extremely  fat ;  still,  the  general  size  is  much 
less.  To  take  this  fish,  a  weir  is  constructed  in  rivers;  a 
strong  fence  is  foimed  with  poles,  two  of  which  are  wide 
apart  at  one  end,  and  approach  nearer  at  the  other,  where  the 


MEANS  OF  SUPPORT.  383 

narrow  outlet  is  covered  with  a  large  net,  having  a  bag  or 
basket  at  the  end,  in  which  they  are  captured*  The  small  eels 
are  often  dried  by  being  hung  up  in  the  sun,  when  it  becomes 
like  a  bag  of  rancid  oil ;  the  larger  ones  are  split  open,  and 
dried  in  the  usual  way. 

The  lamprey  is  taken  in  the  same  way  as  the  eeL 
Properly  speaking  it  is  a  salt-water  fish,  which  enters  the 
rivers  in  the  spring  to  spawn.  From  its  being  very  oily, 
it  is  highly  prized.  It  ascends  the  rivers  to  their  very  source, 
and  then  the  head  grows  to  an  unnatural  size,  when  it  is  said 
to  be  unwholesome,  and  is  not  eaten.  The  head,  to  an  European 
who  is  not  accustomed  to  it,  has  a  very  disgusting  appearance. 
So  extremely  fond  are  the  natives  of  the  lamprey,  that  deaths 
from  over-eating  it  are  far  from  being  uncommon. 

The  imnga  is  a  very  diminutive  fish,  not  at  all  larger  than 
the  English  minnow,  three  inches  being  its  usual  size ;  it  is 
however,  the  chief  fish  of  the  New  Zealand  lakes,  and  its 
small  size  is  made  up  by  its  great  abundance.  This  fish  is 
driven  into  shoal  water,  where  it  is  caught  with  a  long  shallow 
oval  net.  It  is  also  taken  in  deep  water,  by  a  cone-shaped 
net,  which  is  fastened  to  a  frame,  and  thrust  down  with  a  long 
pole.  When  boiled,  the  water  is  drained  from  them,  which 
the  natives  greedily  drink, — they  are  pressed  into  a  compact 
mass,  and  eaten  entire ;  it  is  scaleless. 

The  kokapu  is  another  fresh  water  fish,  nearly  ten  inches 
long.  One  kind  has  scales,  another  is  without.  This  is  gene- 
rally taken  in  the  nets  with  other  fish,  but  in  no  great  quantity. 

The  papanoko  is  a  scaleless  fresh  water  fish,  about  five 
inches  long.  It  is  rather  rare,  but  much  prized ;  its  roe  being 
nearly  as  large  as  the  fish  itself.  The  pariri  is  the  male  of 
this  fish. 

The  tikihemi  corresponds  with  our  trout;  in  shape  and 
appearance  it  is  much  like  an  eel.  The  settlers  have  named  it 
the  eel  trout.  It  is  sometimes  found  of  the  length  of  fourteen 
inches,  but  is  seldom  taken  in  any  quantity. 

The  upokororo  is  a  fish  about  eight  inches  long,  with  scales ; 
it  is  caught  in  the  autumn ;  it  bites  at  the  hair  of  the  legs, 
and  is  thus  caught  by  the  natives  going  into  the  water. 


384  LAND. 

The  fresh  water  mussel,  (kakahi,)  and  crayfish,  (koura,J 
occasionally  furnish  a  meal. 

Tlie  principal  salt  water  fish  which  was  formerly  eaten  was 
the  shark,  (mango,)  which  was  caught  in  great  numbers  with 
the  hook.  They  were  cut  open,  and  then  hung  up  in  the  sun 
and  wind  on  high  horizontal  poles  to  dry ;  and  before  they 
were  so,  they  generally  became  quite  putrid.  It  was  a  winter 
food,  a  small  quantity  being  cooked  as  a  relish  for  their  ku* 
mara,  which,  in  fiavour,  nearly  corresponded  with  our  rich 
rotten  cheese. 

The  tamure,  (or  snapper,)  and  the  kahawai,  (mackerel,) 
were  taken  with  a  hook  attached  to  a  piece  of  the  haliotis  shell ; 
being  deceived  by  its  resemblance  to  a  fish,  they  were  easily 
caught.  The  hapuku,  (or  cod,)  is  the  most  prized  of  sea  fish ; 
it  often  attains  a  very  large  size,  weighing  fifty  pounds  or 
more.  The  conger  eel  is  also  eaten.  Some  fish  are  taken 
with  the  seine,  which  they  make  of  great  length. 

Seals  were  formerly  abundant,  and  much  prized  as  food;  in 
fact,  all  was  fish  which  came  to  the  net,  even  bats  and  owls  were 
not  despised  ;  oysters,  mussels,  and  other  shell  fish  fonned  also 
a  portion  of  their  support. 

Land  is  held  in  three  ways  by  the  natives:  either  by  the 
entire  tribe,  by  some  family  of  it,  or  by  a  single  individual. 
The  common  rights  of  a  tribe  are  often  very  extensive.  These 
generally  apply  to  waste  lands  or  forests,  and  convey  to  each 
individual  of  the  tribe  the  right  of  hunting  and  fishing  over 
those  parts.  By  intermarriages,  several  tribes  are  sometimes 
thus  entitled ;  but,  if  such  land  be  sold,  it  is  nominally  said 
to  belong  to  the  principal  Chief  or  Chiefs  of  the  tribe ;  they 
are  the  parties  with  whom  the  treaty  is  made,  and  to  them  the 
payment  is  given,  which  is,  however,  a  nominal  honor,  the 
money  being  equitably  divided  amongst  all  who  are  entitled  to 
a  portion,  the  seller  rarely  retaining  anything  for  himself.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  that  which  is  claimed  by  families.  Private 
rights  to  land  are  very  rare. 

The  eel  cuts  are  held  in  the  same  way.  These  are  drains 
made  from  lakes  or  swamps,  with  weirs  at  the  outlet  to  catch 


LAND  385 

the  fishy  which  flow  out  in  great  quantities  during  the  floods. 
Of  these  the  natives  are  extremely  jealous.  They  are  the 
property  of  the  first  maker ;  hut,  in  process  of  time,  this  right 
becomes  dispersed  amongst  difierent  members  of  the  family, 
and  thus  occasions  disputes.  To  show  the  value  put  upon 
their  fisheries,  in  nearly  every  instance  where  land  has  been 
sold  to  the  crown,  these  rights  have  been  retained. 

Whatever  piece  of  ground  an  individual  cultivates  for  the 
first  time,  it  becomes  his  own  private  property,  if  he  be  a 
claimant  of  the  land  in  which  it  is  situated ;  and,  when  sold, 
he  only  would  be  entitled  to  receive  the  amount.  Generally, 
however,  these  spots,  which  are  of  a  small  size,  are  handed 
down  from  sire  to  son ;  and,  when  sold,  every  member  of  the 
family  who  has  been  bom  since  their  first  cultivation,  is  entitled 
to  a  share,  and  this  is  often  claimed  by  individuals  living 
amongst  other  tribes. 

Sometimes  the  owners  of  a  district  are  extinct,  excepting 
two  or  three  individuals;  in  which  case,  although  other  relatives 
may  reside  upon  it,  the  true  owners  are  always  respected,  and 
it  rests  with  them  to  portion  out  cultivations,  or  sell  it ;  nor 
can  those  who  receive  them  sell  without  their  permission. 

Their  cultivations  are  generally  joined  together,  one  being 
only  separated  from  another  by  a  few  stones  placed  as  land 
marks,  to  move  one  of  which  would  be  immediately  attended 
with  serious  consequences. 

Boundaries  of  uncultivated  land  were  formerly  known  by  rat 
runs,  or  the  furthest  extent  to  which  their  neighbours  would 
allow  them  to  carry  their  hunting.  Stones,  rocks,  and  trees, 
were  also  used  to  define  their  lines.  The  old  hearth-stones, 
which  are  generally  four,  set  upright  so  as  to  form  a  pit  about 
a  foot  deep  and  broad,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  were  always 
left,  and  in  time  became  land  marks.  The  stones  of  ancient 
kumara  grounds  always  remained.  Those  of  Turi,  the  first  per- 
son who  came  to  the  west  coast,  are  said  still  to  be  seen.  There 
is  no  part,  however  lonely  and  apparently  unknown,  of  which 
the  natives  do  not  know  the  owners,  and  the  difierent  bound- 
aries. In  going  through  a  large  forest,  a  Chief  who  was  my 
companion,  said  it  belonged  to  him.     I  asked  how  he  knew 

cc 


386  HOUSES. 

his  boundaries,  he  said  he  would  point  them  out  when  we 
reached  them ;  at  last  he  stopped  at  the  foot  of  a  very  large 
tree,  whose  root  ran  across  the  road;  he  pointed  out  to  a  hollow 
in  it,  and  asked  me  what  it  was.  I  said,  it  was  like  a  man's 
foot.  He  replied,  I  was  right ;  it  was  the  impression  cut  by 
one  of  his  forefathers,  and  put  his  foot  into  it  to  show  it  fitted. 
This,  said  he,  is  one  of  my  boundaries,  and  now  we  are 
entering  on  the  land  of  another. 

In  a  similar  way  when  travelling  over  the  central  plains, 
where  apparently  human  beings  had  never  resided,  one  of  my 
natives  suddenly  stopped  by  a  stream,  and  said,  that  laud 
belonged  to  his  family.  I  expressed  my  doubts,  and  asked 
him  how  he  could  tell.  He  went  into  some  long  grass,  and 
kept  feeling  about  with  his  feet  for  some  time,  then  calling 
me  to  him,  he  pointed  out  four  hearth-stones,  and  triumph- 
antly said,  here  stood  my  father's  house,  and  going  thence  to 
the  stream,  he  pointed  out  a  little  hollow  in  the  rocky  side, 
over  which  an  old  gnarled  branch  sprung,  and  said,  in  this 
hollow  of  the  stream,  we  used  to  suspend  our  eel  baskets  from 
the  branch.  In  fact,  they  have  many  marks  which,  though 
they  might  pass  unnoticed  by  Europeans,  clearly  indicate  to 
them  their  respective  rights. 

The  roads  also  generally  bound  their  lands.  The  country 
is  intersected  with  paths,  which,  though  not  more  than  a  foot 
wide,  and  closely  resembling  sheep  runs,  still  are  the  means  of 
communication.  All  their  roads  have  particular  names,  and 
are  well  known,  just  as  in  former  days  the  British  had  their 
Watling,  Ermin,  and  other  roads,  so  the  natives  have  theirs — 
Kainga  roa^  Taumatamahoe,  Bangipo^  &c. 

It  is  remarkable,  in  speaking  of  rivers,  the  mouth,  or 
embouchure  is  the  beginning,  and  the  fountain  head  the 
termination  of  it,  which  is  just  the  reverse  of  our  ideas.  A 
river  is  compared  to  a  tree,  the  pakiaka,  or  root,  is  the 
mouth  ;  the  tinana,  or  trunk,  is  the  main  course ;  the  kauru^ 
or  head  of  the  tree,  is  the  source. 

To  an  European  traveller,  who  crawls  into  a  native  hut  for 
the  first  time,  there  will  be  perceived  nothing   particularly 


HOUSES.  387 

interesting  in  it.  He  will^  perhaps,  only  view  it  as  being  a 
dark  smoky  hovel;  but  when  he  becomes  acquainted  with 
native  customs,  and  observes  the  order  and  aiTangement 
displayed,  the  careful  way  it  is  constructed,  and  how  perfectly 
the  object  aimed  at  is  attained,  he  will  not  withhold  its  meed 
of  praise. 

The  principal  houses  are  called  ware-pimif  or  warm  houses ; 
this  name  may  be  given  either  from  the  number  of  persons 
generally  residing  in  them,  or  from  their  being  so  built  as  to  ex- 
clude the  external  air.  The  ware-puni  is  generally  sunk  one  or 
two  feet  in  the  earth,  and  nearly  always  fronts  the  sun.  The 
sides  (pou)  are  seldom  more  than  four  feef  high,  being 
formed  of  large  broad  slabs  of  totara,  the  most  durable  pine, 
having  a  small  circular  groove  or  opening  cut  into  the  top  to 
receive  the  rafters,  (heke.)  These  slabs  are  either  adzed,  and 
painted  with  red  ochre;  or,  if  it  be  a  very  superior  house, 
each  one  is  grotesquely  carved  to  represent  some  ancestor  of 
the  family,  in  which  case  they  become  a  kind  of  substitute 
for  the  nobleman's  ancestral  picture  gallery.  Between  these 
posts  there  is  generally  a  space  of  two  feet,  which  is  filled 
up  with  a  kind  of  lattice-work,  composed  of  slender  laths, 
dyed  black,  white,  or  red,  and  bound  together  with  narrow 
strips  of  the  kiekie  leaf,  very  tastefully  disposed  in  a  pattern, 
this  is  called  arapaki.  There  is  also  a  skirting  board  painted 
red;  and  the  rafters,  which  are  either  carved  or  painted  in 
various  patterns  with  different  colored  ochres,  rest  on  a  ridge 
pole,  (tahuhu,)  in  which  a  notch  is  cut  to  receive  them.  This 
ridge  pole  is  always  the  entire  length  of  the  building,  including 
that  of  the  verandah  as  well,  being  generally  of  a  triangular 
shape,  and  very  heavy;  it  is  supported  by  a  post  or  pillar 
CpoU'tahuJ,  in  the  middle  of  the  house,  the  bottom  of  which 
is  carved  in  the  form  of  a  human  figure,  which  represents  the 
founder  of  the  family — ^and  is  thus  a  kind  of  lares.  Immedi- 
ately before  the  face  of  this  figure  is  the  fire  place,  a  small 
pit  formed  by  four  slab  stones  simk  into  the  ground.  Perhaps 
there  is  some  relic  of  ancient  fire  worship  in  the  position  of 
the  fire,  which,  as  a  domestic  altar,  always  burns  before  the 
face  of  the  image  of  their  deified  ancestor. 

cc2 


388  HOUSES. 

The  entrance  to  the  house  is  by  a  sliding  door,  (taiau,J 
which  is  formed  of  a  solid  slab  of  wood,  about  two  feet  and  a 
half  high,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  wide.  On  the  right  side  of 
this  is  a  window,  (matapihi,)  which  is  generally  about  ten 
inches  high  and  two  feet  wide ;  this  also  is  furnished  with  a 
slide,  which  goes  into  the  wall  of  the  building. 

On  entering,  there  is  a  low  slab  of  wood  on  either  side,  to 
partition  off  the  sleeping  places,  leaving  a  path  down  the 
middle,  that  nearest  the  door  being  about  eighteen  inches  high. 
In  the  space  thus  partitioned  off,  the  inmates  lay  in  rows,  each 
with  his  feet  towards  the  fire,  and  his  head  to  the  wall.  The 
Chief  or  owner  of  the  house  invariably  takes  the  side  next  to 
the  window,  that  being  the  place  of  honor.  The  next  in  point 
of  rank,  occupy  the  places  nearest  to  him,  whilst  the  slaves, 
and  persons  of  no  consequence,  go  to  the  furthest  end.  Their 
bedding  {wariki)  seldom  consists  of  any  thmg  more  than  one  or 
more  ground  mat^,  (waikawa,)  upon  which  sometimes  a  finer 
one  (tihenga  poraj  is  laid,  and  a  round  log,  frequently  that 
which  forms  the  partition,  serves  as  a  pillow  (urunga),  which 
is  covered  with  the  clothes  they  usually  wear.  Formerly,  they 
never  ate  in  their  houses,  therefore  verandahs  (mdhau)  were 
required.  The  general  length  of  a  ware-puni  is  about  twenty- 
six  feet,  and  the  breadth  sixteen  feet ;  the  verandah  is  seldom 
more  than  six  feet  long,  and  is  a  continuation  of  the  gable  end 
of  the  house,  having  the  entire  width  of  the  building.  It  has  a 
broad  slab  in  front,  about  two  feet  and  a  half  high,  which 
separates  it  from  the  road,  from  this  a  post  rises  to  the  ridge 
pole ;  this  also  is  surmounted  with  a  carved  figure.  The  ve- 
randah is  ornamented  in  the  same  way  as  the  interior  of  the 
house.  The  wall  plate  of  the  verandah  is  often  carved  to 
represent  the  prostrate  figures  of  slaves  on  whose  bodies  the 
pillars  which  support  the  house  stand ;  this  seems  to  refer  to 
an  extinct  custom  of  killing  human  victims,  and  placing  them 
in  the  holes  made  to  receive  the  posts,  that  the  house  being 
founded  in  blood,  might  stand.  This  custom  still  prevails  in 
Borneo.  Over  the  door  there  is  a  board  called  maihi,  which  is 
elaborately  carved,  and  adorned  with  bunches  of  pigeon  fea- 
thers.  The  facings  of  the  door-posts  and  window  are  similarly 


NATIVE  OVENS.  389 

ornamented.  The  building  is  covered  externally  with  raupo  or 
sedge,  and  roofed  with  the  same ;  then  with  grass,  or  a  similar 
substance,  to  a  considerable  thickness.  The  earth  is  generally 
heaped  up  against  the  sides,  so  as  almost  to  reach  the  eaves. 

At  sunset,  a  fire  is  made  in  the  house,  which  is  allowed  to 
burn  clear  for  some  time,  and  fill  the  little  pit  with  embers, 
when  it  ceases  to  smoke,  the  occupants  enter;  the  door  and 
window  being  closed,  the  heat  soon  becomes  almost  as  great 
as  that  of  an  oven,  and  of  such  a  stifling  nature,  from  the  fumes 
of  the  charcoal,  that  few  Europeans  can  bear  it,  yet  frequently 
twenty,  thirty,  or  even  more  will  sleep  in  this  place  huddled 
together,  and  generally  almost  in  a  state  of  nudity.  Sometimes 
even  they  suffer,  from  the  charcoal  being  too  powerful.  This 
was  formerly  attributed  to  the  visits  of  an  imaginary  being, 
called  patupaiarehe. 

The  native  oven  (umu  hangi)  is  a  circular  hole  of  about  two 
feet  in  diameter,  and  from  six  to  twelve  inches  deep,  which  is 
generally  scraped  out  with  the  end  of  a  pointed  stick.  The  pro- 
cess of  cooking  by  it  is  very  simple,  and  being  generally  adopted 
throughout  the  South  Seas,  it  is  interesting  as  marking  the 
identity  of  the  race.  A  fire  is  made  in  this  hole,  the  wood  being 
piled  up  nearly  a  foot  above  its  level,  and  upon  it  is  laid  a  layer 
of  stones  as  large  or  larger  than  a  man's  fist.  When  the  fire 
has  completely  heated  the  stones,  the  cook,  generally  a  female, 
(sometimes  two  or  more,)  quickly  and  dexterously  removes  the 
hot  stones,  either  with  the  fingers  or  two  short  sticks,  and  clears 
out  all  the  embers.  Then  returning  some  of  the  stones  to  the 
oven,  she  covers  them  up  with  a  layer  of  green  leaves,  (wata 
wata,)  and  sprinkles  some  water  over  them.  Having  thus  lined 
the  oven,  the  kumara  and  potatoes,  which  have  been  well 
scraped  and  washed,  are  then  put  into  it  and  piled  up.  If  meat 
is  to  be  cooked,  it  is  generally  bound  round  with  green  leaves, 
to  keep  in  the  gravy :  this  is  always  done  with  large  eels,  when 
they  are  intended  for  any  guests  of  distinction.  To  these  a 
few  leaves  of  wild  cabbage,  and  a  bundle  of  sow-thistle  are 
added  as  a  relish.  The  whole  being  likewise  covered  with 
green  leaves,  as  well  as  the  sides  of  the  oven,  water  is  then 


390  PUA,   OR  BREAD. 

plentifully  sprinkled  over,  and  upon  them  is  placed  a  layer 
of  flax  mats,  tapora,  or  old  kete,  (baskets,)  which  have 
been  previously  soaked,  and  are  carefully  tucked  in  at  the 
sides.  The  cook  next,  with  her  fingers  or  a  stick,  covers  the 
whole  with  earth,  so  closely  that  the  steam  thus  generated 
cannot  escape.  An  hour  or  less  is  sufficient  to  cook  a  very 
large  quantity  of  food,  during  which  time  the  operator  sits 
down  and  plaits  a  number  of  baskets  with  green  flax,  or  ti 
leaves.  When  she  opens  the  oven,  she  first  carefully  removes 
the  earth  in  the  same  manner  it  was  put  on ;  then  the  mats 
are  taken  off  with  a  little  jerk  outwards,  so  that  not  a  particle 
of  earth  falls  on  the  oven.  The  covering  of  leaves  is  next 
removed,  and  the  food,  deposited  in  the  clean  new  baskets,  is 
placed  before  the  guests,  each  portion  having  some  of  the 
thistle  or  cabbage  leaves  laid  upon  them,  with  a  piece  of  meat, 
if  there  be  any.* 

They  generally  leave  a  small  portion  of  the  food,  which  has 
been  rather  burnt  by  the  stones  at  the  bottom,  and  the  ladies 
eat  it  while  sitting  round  the  oven.  Etiquette  does  not  allow 
any  of  the  hosts  to  come  near  their  guests  when  eating ;  and, 
if  previously  sitting  with  them,  they  remove  to  a  distance. 
When  the  guests  are  many  and  distinguished,  all  the  principal 
ladies,  and  even  the  Chiefs,  bear  the  food ;  each  one  taking  a 
kete,  and  walking  in  a  long  train  one  after  the  other,  sets  the 
food  before  the  guests,  and  then  retires.  This  is  often  a  very 
pretty  sight. 

The  process  of  making  bread  from  the  pua,  or  pollen  of  the 
raupo  (typha  angustifolia)  is  curious,  both  on  account  of  the 


*  The  natiyes  of  South  Australia  cook  their  food  in  a  similar  maimer.  A 
hole,  (kanpayappa,)  is  dug  in  the  ground,  and  a  fire  kindled  in  it,  upon  which 
stones  are  laid  to  be  heated.  During  the  time  these  are  being  heated,  they 
prepare  the  game  or  vegetables,  and  then  remove  the  stones  and  larger 
remains  of  wood ;  and,  if  they  stew  a  kangaroo,  they  first  fill  the  inade  with 
part  of  the  hot  stones,  and  leaves  of  the  gum  tree.  The  kangaroo  is  then  pat 
into  the  hole,  and  covered  with  leaves,  the  remaining  stones,  bark,  and  earth. 
It  remains  there  for  an  hour  and  more,  imtil  steam  escapes  from  different 
parts ;  when  this  takes  place,  the  meat,  or  whatever  is  cooking,  is  sufficiently 
done.  J.  P.  Gill,  Esq., — Tasmanian  Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  112. 


PUA,    OR   BREAD.  391 

patience  required  to  collect  sufficient  for  the  purpose,  and  for 
religious  rites  connected  with  it :  showing,  most  clearly,  how 
very  much  pinched  for  food  the  aborigines  formerly  were,  and 
the  great  stress  they  laid  upon  religion  in  aiding  their  efforts 
to  procure  it.  It  is  also  remarkable  for  the  number  of  words 
belonging  to  the  process,  which  is  a  proof  of  the  value  put 
upon  this  article  of  food. 

The  first  thing  which  was  done,  was  the  erection  of  a  shed 
near  the  swamp,  from  which  the  pollen  (pua)  was  to  be  collected. 
The  process  of  gathering  it  always  commenced  at  daybreak  ; 
for  when  the  sun  began  to  shine,  the  feathery  seeds  blew  about, 
they  had  then  to  discontinue  their  work  until  the  evening, 
when  they  recommenced  the  work.     The  gathering  of  the 
flower  heads  of  the  raupo  was  continued  for  several  days,  until 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  pollen  was  obtained.     They  then  cut 
a  quantity  of  flowers  of  the  kakaho  (arundo  Australis),  which 
being  strewed  on  the  floor  of  the  shed,  the  pua  was  heaped 
upon  them.     It  was  daily  carried  into  the  sun  to  dry,  and 
again  returned  in  the  evening  to  the  shed,  lest  it  should  be- 
come damp  with  the  dew.    Parties  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  men, 
women,  and  children,  often  assembled  for  this  work ;  each 
family  having  its  own  division  (timkoi)  of  the  shed  to  attend 
to*  When  the  process  of  collecting  was  finished,  they  went  into 
the  forest  to  procure  the  bark  of  the  hinau  (elceocarpus  hinau), 
which  they  stripped  off  the  trees  in  large  pieces,  twelve  or  four- 
teen feet  long.    These  were  doubled  up  so  as  to  make  a  bag, 
one  end  being  left  open  to  form  a  mouth,  while  the  sides  were 
sewed  with  flax,  leaving  only  a  small  hole  at  one  of  the  lower 
comers.     Being  set  on  their  ends,  they  formed  long  bags, 
almost  as  tall  as  a  man,  which  were  propped  up  by  poles. 
They  then  took  the  mats  (tapaki),  which  had  been  previously 
plaited  by  the  women  of  split  flax,  and  spread  them  on  the 
ground  by  the  side  of  the  bag  (pu),  part  of  them  stripped 
the  flower  from  the  stem:  this  process  was  called  uhu.     A 
quantity  being  shred,  it  was  put  into  bags,  which  had  been 
plaited  with  great  care  of  finely  split  flax,  so  as  to  allow  only 
the  smallest  particles  to  escape.     Men  only  were  allowed  to 
sift  the  pua,  which  was  done  by  shaking  these  bags  over  the 


392  PUA,    OR   BREAD. 

mouth  of  the  larger  one^  while  the  tohunga,  or  priest,  repeated 
a  karakia. 

The  principal  person  of  each  family  had  to  sift  it ;  but,  if 
he  had  been  guilty  of  any  crime,  the  pua  would  fly  up  in  his 
face,  and  he  would  be  forced  to  give  place  to  a  better  man. 
Whilst  some  were  sifting,  others  were  plaiting  small  baskets 
(rourou,  kapukapu,  paro)  of  green  flax,  which  are  lined  with 
leaves  of  the  rangiora  or  pukapuka  (brachyglottis  repanda)^ 
to  place  the  sifted  pua  in;  the  siftings  (tutae  papapaj,  or 
down,  being  thrown  away.     The  plug  having  been  removed 
from  the  bottom  comer  of  the  bag,  the  pua  flowed  out,  which 
was  caught  in  the  baskets,  carefully  avoiding  to  press  it  down, 
in  which  state  it  resembled  small  seeds.     The  baskets  being 
filled,  they  were  covered  over  vrith  leaves  as  before,  and  then 
sewed  up  (runaj^  which  being  done,  they  were  placed  in  the 
ovens  (hangi)y  the  number  of  which  was  proportioned  to  the 
quantity  to  be  cooked.     The  ovens,  having  beea  covered  over 
as  usual,  were  left  till  the  steam  burst  out  at  the  top,  which 
was  a  sign  that  they  were  done.     When  taken  out,  the  sub- 
stance still  retained  its  resemblance  to  seeds ;  but  the  baking 
converted  it  into  a  solid  mass. 

The  principal  person  of  the  party  then  divided  them  among 
the  people.  Some  of  the  loaves  thus  made  were  from  six  to 
eight  inches  in  diameter,  and  thick  in  proportion.  The  smaller 
ones  were  generally  eaten  at  the  time,  the  larger  ones  being 
reserved  as  presents,  for  state  occasions,  or  for  supplies  during 
war.  A  loaf  of  seven  inches  in  diameter  was  sufiident  to 
satisfy  two  full-grown  men. 

Having  been  rendered  sacred  by  the  prayers  of  the  tohunga, 
or  priest,  during  the  process  of  sifting,  no  one  could  eat  of  it 
until  the  first  oven,  containing  only  three  or  four  baskets,  had 
been  cooked  for  the  priest,  who  then  took  ofi*  the  tapu. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  when  the  down  (hune)  obtained  from 
the  rawpo  head  is  put  into  the  baskets,  it  is  invariably  filled 
with  a  small  kind  of  worm,  or  grub,  in  very  large  quantities. 
It  is,  therefore,  generally  baked,  and  it  is  at  once  fit  for 
making  beds  and  pillows,  for  which  purpose  it  is  commonly 
used,  and  forms  a  good  substitute  for  feathers. 


To  make  bread  of  the  hinau  (ekeocarpiu  hinaui,  the  berries 
are  steeped  for  nearly  a  year  in  running  water,  to  get  rid 
of  their  bitter  and  astringent  quality,  they  are  then  put  into 
a.  basket  (pu)  which  has  been  plaited  very  close,  and  beaten 
upon  a  stone  with  a  small  wooden  club.  This  being  sufficiently 
done  they  are  sifted  through  closely  plaited  baskets ;  the 
husks,  thus  separated  from  the  pulp,  are  thrown  away, 
and  the  latter,  which  resembles  dark  flour,  is  kneaded  into 
cakes  with  a  little  water.  These  being  wrapped  up  in  leaves 
of  the  rangiora,  are  placed  iu  a  native  oven.  When  cooked, 
they  have  much  the  appearance  of  very  brown  bread,  and  are 
highly  esteemed  by  the  natives,  though  too  oily  to  suit  the 
taste  of  most  Europeans.  Hence  the  proverb  which  is  used 
by  a  man  when  he  is  waked  out  of  his  sleep  to  eat,  "  Kia 
wakaoko  koe  i  taka  moe,  ko  te  Watutureiarua" — "  When  you 
disturb  my  sleep,  let  it  be  on  account  of  the  arrival  of  te  Watu-* 
tUreiania,"  the  first  person  who  made  bread  from  the  hinau. 

The  natives  sometimes  cooked  it  by  pouring  a  quantity  of 
the  flour  into  water  which  had  been  heated  by  putting  hot 
stones  into  it,  the  only  way  the  natives  previously  had  of 
heating  water.     In  that  state  it  was  called  rerepi. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

NATURAL  HISTORY. 

The  Natural  History  of  tliese  islands,  compared  with  that  of 
other  countries,  appears  very  defective ;  excepting  a  rat,  which 
is  uow  almost  exterminated  by  the  imported  one,  there  are 
only  reports  of  a  kind  of  beaver,  of  whose  existence  we  are 
not  yet  quite  certain,  although,  very  probably,  it  does  exist  in 
the  Middle  Island.* 

■  A  DUUi  nuned  Sejmour,  of  Otalci,  stated  tlut  he  had  repeated);  aeen  an 
animal  in  the  Middle  Island,  near  Diubjr  Baj,  on  the  soath-weit  coaat,  which 
he  called  a  mosk-rat,  from  the  stroi^  Btaell  it  emitted.  He  uud,  ita  tul  wm 
thick,  and  resembled  the  ripe  pirori,  the  fruit  of  the  kiekit,  which  is  not  un- 
like in  appearance  the  tail  of  a  bearer.  This  account  waa  corrobonted  bj 
Tamihana  te  Rauparaha,  who  spoke  of  it  as  being  more  than  double  the  siis 
oftheNarwaj  fat,  and  ai  baring  a  large  HattaiL  A  man  named  Tom  Crib,  who 


NATURAL   HISTORY.  395 

The  kiore,  or  native  rat^  is  not  above  half  the  size  of  the 
Norway  rat  {mus  ratus);  it  once  abounded  everywhere;  it 
chiefly  fed  on  the  mast  of  the  tawai,  a  species  of  beech.  It 
was  formerly  valued  as  an  article  of  food.  The  English  or 
Norway  rat  is  called  by  the  natives  pou  hawaikij  kiore  pakeha^ 
kainga  rua. 

The  kuriy  or  native  dog,  was  found  when  Cook  arrived,  and 
the  natives  state  it  came  with  them  from  Hawaiki,  when  they 
first  landed  in  New  Zealand.  It  was  a  smaU  long-haired  dog, 
of  a  dirty  white  or  yellow  color,  with  a  brushy  tail ;  it  has 
now  become  quite  extinct.  It  does  not  appear  to  bear  any 
resemblance  to  the  Australian  dingo,  but  is  more  probably  of 
the  same  species  as  those  stiU  found  in  the  Polynesian  Islands. 

New  Zealand  probably  possesses  two  kinds  of  bat ;  the 
pekapeka  {vespertilio  tuberculatus) ;  the  common  one  is  very 
small,  of  a  yellowish  brown,  with  diminutive  roimded  ears. 

The  seal,  mimiha  or  kekeno  (fam.  PhocicUe),  appears  to  have 
once  been  very  numerous,  as  their  bones  are  met  with  in 
considerable  quantities  along  the  coast,  mingled  with  those  of 
man.  In  the  Middle  Island,  the  rapoka,  or  sea-bear,  was  not 
uncommon:  the  natives  formerly  captured  it,  by  throwing 
sand  in  its  eyes,  and  whilst  it  strove  to  free  itself  from  the 
annoyance,  they  fell  upon  and  killed  it.  It  is  now  seldom 
met  with. 

The  sea-lion,  wakahao  {Phoca  jubatd)^  or  morse,  once  fre- 
quented the  shores  of  the  Middle  Island.  The  natives  describe 
it  as  being  about  the  size  of  the  cow.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
of  a  red  color,  and  to  have  gone  inland  to  breed,  and  as 
having  been  very  savage  and  powerful.  One  of  their  chief 
warriors,  named  Te  Wera,  was  put  to  flight  by  this  animal, 
although  attended  by  seventy  of  his  foUowers — hence  the 

had  been  eng^ed  in  whaling  and  sealing  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dusky  Bay 
for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  said  he  had  not  himself  seen  the  beaver,  but 
had  several  times  met  with  their  habitations,  and  had  been  surprised  by  seeing 
little  streams  dammed  up,  and  houses  like  bee-hives  erected  on  one  side,  having 
two  entrances,  one  from  above  and  the  other  below  the  dam.  One  of  the 
Camerons,  who  lived  at  Kaiwarawara,  when  the  settlers  first  came  to  Welling- 
ton, stated  that  he  saw  one  of  these  large  rats  and  pursued  it,  but  it  took  to 
the  water,  and  dived  out  of  sight. 


396  NATURAL  HiarroRY. 

saying,   " Te  hoa  kakari  o  te   Wera  he  wakahao^^ — ** The 
enemy  of  te  Wera  is  the  sea-lion." 

Whales  were  very  numerous  in  the  New  Zealand  seas  (fam. 
Balcenidce).  The  sperm  whale  (paraua),  is  found  of  different 
colors^  some  being  white,  others  black,  or  of  an  ochreous.  or 
dingy  red,  and  frequently  of  a  mottled  color.  The  tohora 
{balcena  anlipodum)  or  right  whale,  was  very  abundant.  The 
dead  black  whale  is  said  always  to  drift  to  the  leeward,  whilst 
the  sperm,  on  the  contrary,  goes  to  the  windward. 

The  fin-back  {halcena  physalus)  is  foimd  chiefly  on  the  north- 
east shores  of  the  North  Island. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  New  Zealand  birds  is  the 
apterix  Ausiralis,  or  kiwi  (fam.  Struthionidce)^  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  one  of  the  last  surviving  members  of  a  very  large 
family.  This  remarkable  bird  is  still  abundant  in  several  parts 
of  the  country.  In  size,  it  is  not  larger  than  a  common  full- 
grown  fowl,  yet  it  lays  an  egg  not  more  than  one-third  less 
that  of  the  emu^  for  it  is  eight  inches  in  circumference  across, 
and  twelve  lengthwise.  There  are  two  varieties  of  the  kiwi,  one 
being  rather  larger  than  the  other,  and  of  a  darker  color,  this 
only  lays  one  egg ;  the  other,  or  common  red  one,  lays  two, 
which  are  of  smaller  dimensions.  This  bird  has  a  rudimentary 
wing,  which  is  terminated  by  a  slender  claw ;  the  bill  is  long  and 

A  Chief  came  to  mc  one  day,  and  inqaired  whether  there  were  men  and 
women  living  in  the  sea.  I  demanded  the  reason  of  the  question  being  put  to 
me.  He  said,  that  whilst  a  boat's  crew  was  going  for  the  Rey.  Mr.  Reay,  in 
Cloudy  Bay,  a  figure  suddenly  appeared  in  the  water,  at  a  distance  of  about 
three  yards ;  they  left  off  rowing,  and  gazed  at  it  for  a  long  time ;  it  resem> 
bled  a  black  man  of  the  usual  size,  but  was  bald  on  the  head,  and  with 
moustachios  sticking  out  about  four  inches.  As  they  approached,  it  laid  on 
the  water  like  a  log,  and  one  said  it  was  a  log,  another  that  it  was  a  kumete, 
or  large  wooden  bowl,  turned  upside  down ;  but,  as  they  drew  near,  it  rose 
up,  and  appeared  as  a  black  man,  as  far  as  the  waist ;  it  looked  steadfastly  at 
them,  and  kept  puffing  vrith  its  mouth :  it  was  a  perfect  man,  only  was  bald, 
and  had  a  queer  stiff-looking  moustache.  One  proposed  to  throw  a  rope  round 
it,  and  pull  it  mto  the  boat ;  another  said.  No,  it  is  taniwa  (sea  god),  and  will 
smash  the  boat  It  continued  looking  at  them  and  puffing  for  about  an  hour, 
and  then  went  down.  They  told  Mr.  Reay  of  it,  and  said  they  had  never  seen 
such  a  creature  before,  and  asked  whether  we  pakehat  had.  I  asked  whether 
it  was  not  a  seal ;  they  said  no,  it  was  a  perfect  man  as  far  as  the  waist— the 
lower  part  was  concealed  in  the  wat«r. — From  Tamihana,  1847. 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  397 

slightly  curved^  having  the  nostrils  at  the  extremity  ;  its  fea- 
thers, which  are  tipped  with  a  kind  of  claw,  are  much  prized 
in  forming  cloaks,  which  are  only  worn  by  the  highest  chiefs.* 

The  kiwi  forms  burrows,  and  deposits  its  eggs  in  them, 
generally  at  the  root  of  the  rata.  It  is  said  to  be  three  years 
before  they  are  hatched,  and  oftentimes  the  hole  is  so  grown  up 
with  roots,  that  the  young  bird  cannot  make  its  way  out,  and 
thus  perishes.  The  kiwi  parure  is  the  largest  kind,  and  the 
kiwi  hoihoi  the  smallest. 

The  kiwi  is  a  night  bird,  and  finds  its  food  by  smell,  feeling 
its  way  by  means  of  its  large  whiskers,  inserting  its  bill  into 
the  earth  in  search  of  worms  with  great  celerity,  making  at 
the  same  time  a  snuffing  noise ;  it  then  appears  very  animated. 
It  kicks  with  considerable  force,  and  expresses  its  anger  by  a 
hissing  or  grunting  noise.  It  is  easily  tamed.  The  cry  it 
makes  is  very  similar  to  its  name,  which  is  probably  thus 
derived.  The  kiwi  is  an  unsightly  bird,  having  short  thick 
legs,  with  very  strong  nails;  it  has  no  tail.  In  very  wet 
weather,  it  is  often  driven  out  of  the  forest,  and  compelled  to 
seek  the  plain.  When  at  rest,  it  supports  itself  upon  its  beak. 
The  natives  always  tie  a  feather  or  two  of  this  bird  to  their 
paua^  or  fish-hooks.  It  is  good  eating,  and  tastes  more  like 
tender  beef  than  a  bird ;  the  principal  fleshy  parts  are  the  ribs 
and  legs. 

There  is  said  to  be  another  bird  of  this  family  in  the  Middle 
Island,  weighing  as  much  as  eighteen  pounds ;  it  is  so  strong 
that  it  cannot  be  held  with  one  hand,  and  if  the  captor  be  not 
very  careful,  it  will  escape,  as  my  informant  said,  by  shaking 
itself  out  of  its  feathers,  which  it  frequently  does.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  many  varieties  of  this  remarkable  bird 
will  be  found  in  the  islands  north  of  New  Zealand. 

l^oko  eka,  a  kind  of  kiwi,  larger  than  the  turkey,  and  found 
in  the  Middle  Island,  at  Dusky  Bay,  and  on  the  snowy  moun- 
tains; by  others,  it  is  described  as  being  of  a  bright  red 

*  Cloaks  made  from  the  feathers  of  tho  kiwi  are  highly  prized.  I  brought 
a  very  Urge  one  from  one  of  the  Wauganui  tribes,  as  a  present  for  the  Queen. 
During  the  many  years  I  have  been  in  New  Zealand,  I  never  saw  so  fine  a  one— 
they  are  extremely  rare. 


398  NATURAL    HISTORY. 

plumage^  and  only  found  on  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains. 
It  was  caught  by  spreading  a  white  garment  on  the  ground, 
which  it  mistook  for  snow.  The  natives  speak  of  an  immense 
bird  which  lived  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  of  the  Middle 
Island.  They  called  it  the  powakai  ;  it  laid  only  two  eggs — 
one  became  a  male  and  the  other  a  female.  It  devoured  men. 
This  bird  is  alluded  to  in  several  of  their  traditions. 

The  natives  speak  of  another  member  of  this  family,  which 
they  name  the  kiwi  papa  whenua^  a  still  larger  species,  which 
they  describe  as  having  been  full  seven  feet  high ;  it  likewise 
had  a  very  long  bill,  with  which  it  made  large  holes  in  the 
ground,  in  search  after  worms.  This  bird  is  now  extinct,  but 
there  are  persons  living  who  have  seen  it.  Rauparaha  told  me 
he  had  eaten  it  in  his  youth,  which  might  be  about  seventy 
years  ago,  and  when  that  Chief  died,  his  corpse  was  said  to 
have  been  ornamented  with  some  of  its  feathers. 

But  of  all  the  birds  which  have  once  had  existence  in  New 
Zealand,  by  far  the  most  remarkable  is  the  moa^  dinomis  of 
Owen;  perhaps  it  was  the  largest  bird  which  ever  had 
existence,  at  least  during  the  more  recent  period  of  our  earth's 
history ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  it  is  even  now 
extinct.  I  first  discovered  its  remains  in  1839,  at  Tauranga 
and  Waiapu;  but  in  1844,  I  met  with  a  very  large  collection 
of  the  bones  of  this  bird  mingled  with  those  of  the  seal.  They 
were  laid  in  little  hillocks  at  the  mouth  of  the  Waingongoro ; 
each  heap  was  composed  of  the  bones  of  several  species  of  the 
apterix.  They  are  abundant  on  almost  every  part  of  the 
North  Island,  south  of  Mokau,  and  throughout  the  Middle 
Island,  but  have  not  been  discovered  further  north,  probably 
because  there  were  no  grassy  plains  there  for  it  to  feed  over. 

Wherever  the  remains  of  the  moa  are  found,  there  is  ge- 
nerally a  small  heap  of  round  quartz  pebbles,  about  the  size 
of  walnuts,  which  were  doubtless  swallowed  for  digestion.  It 
is  probable  that  this  wonderful  bird  was  not  much  less  thau 
sixteen  feet  high,  and  its  bones  are  half  the  size  of  the 
elephant's. 

The  Fam.  Ballidae,  is  rather  an  extensive  one,  though 

•  The  word  Moa  in  the  islands,  is  the  common  name  of  the  domestic  fowl. 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  399 

several  members  of  it  are  extinct.  The  largest  kind  is  the 
ocydromus  Atutralis,  the  weka,  or  wood  hen  of  the  settlers. 
The  breast  is  of  a  slate  color,  the  back  brown,  and  speckled ; 
it  is  strongly  made,  and  about  the  size  of  a  half-grown  fowl : 
it  is  very  abundant  in  the  Middle  Island,  and  the  southern 
part  of  the  North  Isle.     The  name  is  taken  from  its  cry. 

The  pukekoy  or  rauhara,  (porphyria  melanotus,)  is  a  fine 
bird,  about  the  size  of  a  pullet ;  it  has  long  red  legs  and  toes, 
with  a  bill  and  protuberance  above  of  the  same  color,  some- 
what like  the  guinea-fowl :  the  back  is  black,  and  the  breast 
of  a  bright  mazarine  blue ;  the  under  feathers  of  the  tail  are 
pure  white,  which  forms  a  fine  contrast  with  the  black  of  its 
short  tail.  This  bird  has  a  strong  shrill  cry,  resembling  its 
name,  flies  slowly  and  heavily,  and  is  a  great  thief,  making 
much  havoc  in  the  cultivations.  It  abounds  in  swamps  and 
along  the  sides  of  rivers.  The  flesh  is  dry  and  coarse,  seldom 
eaten  by  the  natives,  but  much  esteemed  by  Europeans,  who 
say,  that  when  kept  it  is  exquisite  eating. 

Closely  allied  to  this  bird  is  the  takahe,  the  notomis  of 
Owen,  a  large  heavy  bird  of  the  Middle  Island,  very  rare ;  it 
stands  about  two  feet  high,  and  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  kiwi. 
It  has  a  short  thick  beak,  and  strong  legs ;  the  back  is  black, 
and  its  neck  and  body  of  a  dark  blue,  shaded  with  green,  and 
gold  on  the  wings.  The  tail  is  scanty,  and  white  underneath. 
One  specimen  only  has  reached  this  country,  which  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  British  Museum. 

There  are  several  smaller  kinds  of  rail.  Of  these  is  the 
Jcatataiy  fraulus  eusimilis,)  of  a  ferugineous  color.  The  ralitu 
dieffenbachiij  is  about  one-third  less  than  the  weka;  it  is 
peculiar  to  the  Chatham  Isles,  and  is  a  fine  bird.  Its  native 
name  is  the  moeriki. 

Patatai,  or  popoiai^  is  a  small  rail,  about  the  size  of  a 
sparrow,  but  of  a  very  delicate  shape ;  it  is  of  a  light  brown 
color,  the  back  spotted  with  black  and  white,  the  breast  is  of 
a  slate  colour,  beak  bright  green,  eye  black,  with  a  red  circle ; 
it  has  a  very  small  tail,  which  is  black  underneath,  with  white 
bands ;  the  legs  are  of  a  pale  green. 

The  moho  periru,  or  motarua,  a  small  dark  brown  rail  of 


400  NATURAL    HISnORY. 

uniform  color,  with  red  legs,  black  eye,  red  circle,  black  bill, 
small  tail,  black  underneath,  spotted  with  white,  the  breast 
and  front  edges  of  the  wings  are  of  a  dark  bright  blue. 

Totoriwai  is  a  small  black  rail ;  the  mi)ho  is  also  of  a  black 
color,  formerly  very  abundant,  but  now  seldom  seen. 

The  koitareke,  or  kokoreke,  koreke,  and  koutareke,  (cotumix 
novos  ZealandiyJ  is  a  small  quail,  with  short  legs,  nearly 
approaching  to  the  quail  of  Australia,  in  its  general  features. 

In  the  fam.  Falconidoe^  is  the  kahu  {falco  harpe\  a  fine  large 
hawk,  which  is  very  destructive  to  poultry,  and  will  not  hesi- 
tate to  pounce  on  even  a  full-grown  hen.  The  wings  are  nearly 
four  feet  across  when  expanded,  but  the  body  of  this  rapacious 
bird  is  very  small,  being  a  dark  yellow,  spotted  with  brown, 
and  the  breast  of  a  lighter  color,  spotted. 

The  kaiaia,  or  karewarewa,  kauaua,  (falco  brunnea.)  This 
is  an  elegant  bird,  very  similar  to  the  English  sparrow-hawk ; 
it  has  a  very  shrill  cry,  which  is  regarded  as  an  omen  of  the 
weather :  if  heard  on  a  fine  day,  it  is  a  sign  it  will  rain  ;  if  on 
a  rainy  day,  that  it  will  be  fine. 

There  is  also  a  night-hawk,  very  similar  to  the  sparrow-hawk 
in  plumage.     Fam.  Strigidte, 

The  koukou,  or  ruru  [Athene  Novae  Scelandue,  strixfuha). 
It  is  called  more  pork  by  the  settlers.  This  small  owl  is  the 
only  one  yet  known  in  the  islands  ;  it  is  easily  killed  with  a 
stick  in  the  day  time. 

Fam.  Alcedinidce — the  kotare,  {halcyon  vagans).  It  closely 
resembles  the  English  kingfisher  in  plumage,  but,  if  anything, 
is  rather  inferior  to  it  in  beauty,  and  is  a  third  larger. 

Fam.  Upupidce — the  huia,  (neomorpha  gouldH).  This  is  a 
beautiful  bird,  with  small  wings ;  it  is  about  the  size  of  the 
jay,  of  a  bright  glossy  black,  with  four  large  tail  feathers, 
tipped  with  white,  which  have  a  graceful  curve,  with  a  small 
white  tuft  under  the  root  of  the  tail ;  the  male  has  a  long 
slender  bill,  of  a  bright  yellow  color  ;  the  female  has  a  thicker 
bill;  the  eye  is  of  a  leaden  color;  it  has  two  little  yeUow 
fleshy  lappets  on  each  side  of  the  head,  which  look  like  two 
wafers  stuck  on  the  cheeks.  The  legs  and  feet  are  long, 
slender,  and  of  a  bright  yellow.    Its  hop  is  very  singular,  like 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  401 

most  of  the  kangaroo.  The  natives  highly  prize  the  skin, 
which  is  an  article  of  barter.  This  bird  is  chiefly  found  to  the 
south  of  the  Ruahine  mountains,  in  the  North  Island,  especially 
on  the  Tararua  range,  and  the  natives  send  the  skins  to  the 
north  carefully  packed  between  pieces  of  bark.  They  receive 
diarks*  teeth  in  return.     A  good  skin  is  valued  at  one  pound. 

The  following  are  honey-birds : — 

The  tui,  koko,  (Prostfiemadera,  Nova  Zeal:).  Cook  named 
this  beautiful  and  lively  bird,  the  parson  and  mocking  bird.  It 
acquired  the  first  name  from  its  having  two  remarkable  white 
feathers  on  the  neck,  like  a  pair  of  clergyman's  bands ;  and  the 
latter  from  its  facility  in  imitating  sounds.  Though  not  of  gaudy 
colors,  there  is  something  very  chaste  and  elegant  in  its  plumage. 
It  is  of  a  black  bronzed  color,  with  delicate  white  hair  feathers 
round  the  neck ;  it  is  a  sweet  songster,  and  full  of  activity, 
incessantly  flying  up  and  down,  and  uttering  its  varied  and 
joyous  notes.  In  the  spring  it  may  be  seen  in  the  yellow 
kowai  trees,  brushing  out  the  pollen  from  the  flowers  with  the 
greatest  rapidity.  When  tamed,  it  readily  imitates  every  kind 
of  sound,  and  soon  forms  an  attachment  with  any  one  who 
notices  it,  so  that  it  is  a  general  favorite. 

The  tui  becomes  extremely  fat  in  winter ;  it  is  then  caught 
in  great  numbers  by  snares ;  but  in  that  season  it  is  also  taken 
by  marking  its  place  of  roost  on  a  frosty  night ;  in  the  morning 
its  legs  and  wings  are  so  benumbed  with  cold,  that  it  is  easily 
shaken  from  its  perch,  which  it  has  not  strength  to  leave 
before  the  sun  warms  its  half-frozen  body;  this  seems  to 
prove  that  the  climate  has  become  colder  than  it  was  formerly. 

When  the  iui  becomes  so  extremely  fat  as  to  be  uncomfort- 
able to  itself,  it  is  said  to  peck  its  breast,  and  thus  cause  the 
oil  to  exude,  which  completely  saturates  its  feathers;  this 
it  appears  to  do  to  lighten  itself,  when  caught  it  is  found 
covered  with  the  marks  of  its  peckings,  and  thence  acquires 
the  name  of  koko,  or  pecking. 

The  tui  is  said  to  breed  three  times  in  the  year ;  it  begins 
in  September,  or  early  spring,  and  then  lays  three  eggs ;  in 
December  it  lays  five  eggs ;  and  in  March,  or  autumn,  it  has 
six  or  seven,  of  a  pure  white  color.     It  takes  little  more  than 

D   D 


402  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

a  fortnight  to  hatch.  The  unfledged  bird  is  called  VLpi,  after- 
wards it  is  named  a  pikariy  and  when  fledged  a  purehe.  But, 
full-grown,  it  is  a  tui,  and  when  it  becomes  very  fat,  it  is  a 
koko.  The  flesh  of  this  bird  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  very  great 
dainty,  and  it  certainly  is  so ;  but  its  lively  song  is  far  sweeter 
to  those  who  admire  melody,  and  such  will  regret  that  this 
will  not  save  it  from  the  Maori  oven. 

The  kotihe  (ptilotis  cincta).  This  beautiful  honey-bird  has 
a  velvety  black  head  and  wings,  with  a  tuft  of  white  feathers 
on  either  cheek  and  wing ;  it  has  a  bright  yellow  circle  round 
the  lower  part  of  the  neck  and  wings.  The  back  and  tail  are 
of  a  yellowish  grey.  It  is  about  the  size  of  the  bullfinch. 
The  male  is  much  larger  than  the  female,  which  has  not  so 
fine  a  plumage.  Its  legs  are  strong,  and  its  tail  slightly 
forked.  It  lays  four  eggs.  The  notes  are  pleasing,  but  few, 
which,  when  it  has  sung,  it  hops  away  to  another  bush. 

The  korimakoj  or  kokorimako  {anthomis  melanura).  This 
bird  is  the  sweetest  songster  of  New  Zealand,  but  is  not  dis- 
tinguished by  its  plumage,  which  is  of  a  yellowish  olive,  with 
a  dark  blueish  shade  on  each  side  of  the  head ;  the  rest  of  the 
body  being  of  a  dingy  yellow-greenish  color ;  it  has  a  long 
forked  tail,  and  strong  wings ;  the  legs  are  of  a  puce  color. 
It  lays  seven  eggs,  spotted  with  blue,  upon  a  brown  ground. 
The  male  is  larger,  and  its  plumage  is  rather  brighter,  with 
more  green  in  it  than  the  female.  In  the  early  dawn,  when 
the  vocal  songsters  of  the  grove  assemble  by  mutual  consent 
on  some  tree,  to  sing  their  morning  hymn,  the  note  of  the 
korimako  is  heard  above  all  the  rest,  and  gives  the  greatest 
harmony  to  the  whole  ;  indeed,  nothing  can  exceed  the  sweet- 
ness of  this  concert,  which  is  only  heard  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  ceases  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  until  the  birds  begin  to 
koro,  or  intimate  the  day  has  closed,  and  then  in  some  parts 
of  the  south  they  again  assemble  to  sing  their  evening  hymn  ; 
but  this  is  not  generally  done,  the  favourite  time  is  the  morn- 
ing. I  have  counted  sixteen  birds  of  difierent  kinds  thus 
perched  together  on  one  branch,  in  the  greatest  harmony.  It 
is  also  called  kopara.  To  this  genus  belongs  the  anthomis 
melanocephala  of  the  Chatham  Isles. 


NATURAL   HISTORY.  403 

Fam.  Luscinidce. — The  matata^  or  koroatito  (sphenoeacus  ? 
punctatus).  It  is  a  small  dark  brown  bird^  with  a  white  and 
brown  spotted  breast ;  it  has  four  long  and  four  short  tail  fea- 
thers, similar  in  structure  to  those  of  the  emu  and  kiwi ;  it  is  a 
swamp  bird,  flies  low,  and  for  a  very  short  distance,  amongst  the 
rushes  and  fern,  with  a  long  shrill  cry ;  and  is  easily  killed 
with  a  stick.  Formerly,  it  was  a  sacred  bird,  and  offered  in 
sacrifice  when  a  party  returned  unsuccessful  from  the  war. 

Riro  rirOy  the  wren.  This  most  diminutive  bird  is  of  a 
greyish  yellow  color ;  the  male  has  a  dark  blue  crest ;  it  is 
very  tame. 

Fam.  Turdid€e, — The  piopio  {tumagra  cra8siro8tri8\  a  bird 
about  the  size  of  a  thrush,  with  a  short  thick  bill,  red  tail, 
yellow  breast,  and  brown  back.  It  is  a  bird  of  passage  from 
the  south.  Piopio  wirunga  nga  tau  ko  Matatua  te  waka. 
The  piopio  came  on  the  bow  of  the  Matatua^  one  of  the 
original  canoes,  from  Hawaiki,  so  says  the  proverb. 

Fam.  Muscicapidoe. — Piwaka  ivaka,  tirakaraka^  the  fan- 
tailed  fly  catcher,  a  pretty  little  restless  lively  bird;  very 
sociable,  and  fond  of  displaying  its  beautiful  little  fan-tail.  It 
has  a  head  like  the  bullfinch,  with  one  black  and  white  streak 
under  the  neck,  coming  to  a  point  in  the  centre  of  the  throat. 
Its  wings  are  very  sharp  and  pointed.  It  is  very  quick  and 
expert  in  catching  flies,  and  is  a  great  favorite,  as  it  generally 
follows  the  steps  of  man.     It  was  sacred  to  Maui. 

MiromirOy  {miro  albifrons.)  A  little  black  and  white  bird, 
with  a  large  head ;  it  is  very  tame,  and  has  a  short  melan- 
choly song ;  it  generally  flies  about  graves  and  solitary  bushes. 
The  miro  toitoiy  {muscipeta  toitoiy)  or  the  ngirungirUy  is  a  bird 
not  larger  than  the  tom-tit.  Its  plumage  is  black  and  white, 
having  a  white  breast,  and  some  of  the  near  feathers  of  each 
wing  tinged  with  white. 

Fam.  Corvidos. — The  kokako,  or  New  Zealand  crow;  it 
is  about  the  size  of  a  small  pullet,  with  long  legs,  and 
remarkably  short  wings;  its  eye  is  of  a  lavender  colour; 
the  head  is  very  small.  It  has  a  strong  black  beak,  a  little 
curved,  and  a  small  brilliant  light-blue  flap  hanging  down 
on  each  side  the  ear.     It  is  a  sly  bird,  very  thievish,  and 

dd2 


404  NATUBAL  HISTORY. 

timid.  The  flesh  is  bitter^hut  when  skinned  and  steeped  in  water 
a  short  time  previous  to  cooking,  it  becomes  more  palatable. 

Fam.  Stumidoe. — Tieki,  {creadion  carunculatus.)  This  is 
a  beautiful  black  bird,  with  a  chestnut  band  across  the  back 
and  wings ;  it  has  also  a  fleshy  lappet  on  either  side  the  head. 
The  tieki  is  considered  a  bird  of  omen :  if  one  flies  on  the 
right  side,  it  is  a  good  sign ;  if  on  the  left  a  bad  one. 

Fam.  Fringillid€e. — Pihoihai,  iviai  kataitai,  {alauda,  Nova 
Zeal:)  This  little  bird  is  very  similar  to  the  ground  lark,  but 
has  no  song.  It  is  of  a  grey  color,  the  breast  white,  with 
grey  spots.  It  makes  its  nest  on  the  ground,  and  greatly 
resembles  its  English  namesake. 

Fam.  Psittacida:. — The  kakariki,  or  potitvaitere,  {plaiy^ 
cercus  Novce  Zeal :)  is  a  pretty  light  green  parrot,  with  a  band 
of  red  or  yellow  over  the  upper  beak  and  under  the  throat. 
This  elegant  little  bird  is  about  the  size  of  a  small  thrush  ;  it 
flies  very  fast,  and  has  a  very  quick  note:  it  is  excellent 
eating.  The  one  with  red  on  the  head,  is  called  kakariki 
matua ;  the  other  with  yellow,  is  called  kakariki  porere  •* 
they  are  different  species. 

The  kaka  (nestar  meridionalis ),  Its  general  color  is  a 
dark  brown,  with  a  reddish  shade ;  the  breast  is  also  red  and 
brown,  with  bright  red  feathers  under  the  wings.  The  bill  is 
very  large  and  curved ;  the  cry  is  remarkably  strong  and  harsh. 
When  the  other  birds  hold  their  morning  concert,  the  kaka 
generally  puts  a  stop  to  it  with  his  harsh  shrill  note  when 
he  thinks  they  have  sung  long  enough.  It  has  a  fine  black 
eye.  This  is  a  large  bird,  little  inferior  in  size  to  a  duck ;  it 
is  easily  tamed,  and  taught  to  speak.  The  natives  make 
mokai  or  pets  of  them,  and  generally  use  them  to  decoy  wild 
ones.  This  bird  is  eaten,  but  it  is  very  dry,  and,  excepting 
the  breast,  rather  strongly  flavoured.  It  makes  its  nest  in  holes 
of  trees,  and  lays  two,  four,  and  sometimes  seven  eggs.  Gene- 
rally, three  of  these  birds  are  found  in  the  same  hole,  a  male 
and  two  females ;  and  their  nests  are  so  close,  that  either  bird 
can  cover  the  eggs  of  her  neighbour,  and  thus  give  her  leave 
of  absence.  The  natives  have  a  saying,  that  the  kaka  never 
alights  on  the  maire  tree.     One  kind  has  a  larger  bill|  this  is 


NATURAL  HlflnORY.  405 

called  kaka  huripa ;  the  one  with  a  smaller  one  is  called  kaka 
fnotaraua.  Some  kaka  make  their  nests  in  the  soft  sand  cli£&; 
these  are  of  much  lighter  color,  the  back  and  wings  being  of 
a  dirty  cream  color,  and  the  breast  of  a  bright  red.  This  may 
be  the  platycercus  auriceps,  or  trichoglossus  aurifrons  korako. 

The  most  remarkable  bird  of  this  family  is  the  kakapo,  or 
tarepOf  (strigops  habroptilus,)  the  night  parrot.  It  is  as  large 
as  a  hen,  of  a  light  green  and  yellow  color,  banded  with 
brown,  with  large  black  whiskers,  and  frequents  moimtains 
and  precipices,  and  though  possessing  wings,  seldom  uses 
them;  it  is  gregarious;  one  generally  keeps  guard,  and  so 
carefully,  that  it  can  never  be  approached  on  the  windward 
side.  In  appearance  it  resembles  the  owl.  The  natives  say, 
there  are  two  kinds,  one  of  which  is  as  large  as  the  kiwi ;  it  is 
extremely  rare,  and  will  be  soon  extinct  in  the  North  Island. 
I  have  only  seen  two  caught  there :  it  is  very  delicate  eating. 
This  remarkable  bird  is  more  abundant  in  the  Middle  Island. 

Fam.  CuculidiB. — The  kohoperoa,  kawelcawea,  koekoea,  (etf- 
dynamys  taitensis.)  This  is  a  bird  of  passage,  and  one  of  the 
New  Zealand  cuckoos ;  it  has  a  long  tail,  of  the  same  color  as 
the  sparrow-hawk,  and  altogether  not  unlike  it ;  the  body  is 
short  and  thick,  with  short  legs  and  strong  claws.  It  is  a  sweet 
singing  bird,  but  is  only  heard  during  the  warmest  months 
of  the  year,  when  it  sings  all  the  night  Its  appearance  is 
a  token  for  the  planting  of  the  kumara,  and  its  departure,  that 
it  is  time  to  dig  them  up.  Some  have  an  idea,  that  this  bird 
hibernates  under  the  water.  The  Taupo  natives  think  that  it 
creeps  into  holes,  where  it  turns  into  a  lizard,  and  loses  its 
feathers ;  on  the  approach  of  summer,  it  crawls  out  of  its 
hole,  its  feathers  then  begin  to  grow,  the  tail  drops  off,  and  it 
again  becomes  a  bird.  In  its  lizard  form,  it  is  called  he  ngaha, 
but  in  Wanganui,  he  piri  rewa,  or  tree  lizard.  The  natives 
say,  that  always  before  the  wind  is  about  to  blow  from  the 
south,  the  kohoperoa  ceases  to  sing,  and  does  not  commence 
again  till  the  west  wind  blows,  or  till  a  breeze  springs  up  from 
the  north.  When  a  child  is  deserted  by  its  parents,  it  is  said 
to  be  "  Teparahaka  o  te  koikoea^^ — "An  egg  left  in  another's 
nest." 


406  NATURAL   HlfirrORY. 

The  piwarauroa,  {chrysococcyx  lucidus,  ctumlus  nitiens,)  is  the 
other  cuckoo,  which  is  also  a  bird  of  passage.  Its  breast  is 
white,  the  feathers  being  fringed  with  green  and  gold;  the 
back  is  green,  gold,  and  bronze ;  the  feathers  under  the  tail 
are  white  spotted  with  brown.  It  has  a  very  peculiar  shrill 
note.  When  first  heard  in  August,  its  cry  is  feeble,  ikui  kui 
te  orUf  complaining  it  is  cold ;  but  as  the  summer  advances, 
and  the  sun  becomes  warm,  its  note  changes  to  taiti  ora,  witi 
ora,  I  am  warm.  There  is  a  saying,  if  it  continues  to  cry  kui 
kui,  It  will  be  a  cold  summer ;  but  if  it  sings  tviti  ora,  wiii 
or  a,  it  will  be  a  warm  season.  These  two  birds  of  passage  are 
said  to  divide  the  year  between  New  Zealand  and  Hawaiki, 
arriving  in  September  and  leaving  in  March. 

Fam.  ColumbicUB, — Keriru,  kukupa,  {kuku  carpophaga^  Novae 
Zeal:)  the  wood  pigeon.  This  is  a  very  fine  large  bird, 
the  size  of  a  duck :  the  upper  part  of  the  breast  is  green  and 
gold ;  the  lower  a  pure  white ;  legs  and  bill  red.  It  is  a 
heavy  flying  bird,  and  very  stupid,  which  makes  it  an  easy 
prey  to  its  enemies.  If  two  birds  are  on  one  tree,  and  one 
be  shot,  the  other  seldom  flies  away.  Its  chief  food  is  the 
fruit  of  the  miro  when  in  season,  and  then  it  is  good  eat- 
ing ;  at  other  times,  it  feeds  on  wild  cabbage,  and  in  spring 
on  the  young  leaves  of  the  kowai,  when  it  is  not  considered 
wholesome.  The  natives  preserve  large  quantities  in  cala- 
bashes, taking  out  the  bones ;  these  are  called  kuku.  It  is  in 
season  at  the  beginning  of  winter,  when  it  becomes  very  fat, 
and  the  natives  extract  oil  from  it.  There  is  a  saying,  the 
pigeon  never  alights  on  the  rata  tree.  I  have  only  met  with 
one  species  of  this  bird. 

Fam.  Tetrao9iid€B, — Kokoreke,  koutareke,koitareke,  {cotumix 
Nov(B  Zeal :)  The  quail  is  a  very  rare  bird ;  it  is  smaller,  but 
otherwise  closely  resembles  the  Australian ;  it  is  more  abimd- 
ant  in  the  Middle  Island. 

Fam.  Charadrid€e. — The  torea,  {hcematopus  picatut,)  a 
black  sea  bird  with  red  legs  and  bill.* 

*  The  karoro,  a  black  and  white  shore  gull,  seizes  the  shell  fish  it  preys 
oily  carries  it  up  into  the  air,  and  then  drops  it  in  order  to  break  the  shell  and 
obtain  the  food. 


NATURAX   HISTORY.  407 

Fam.  Ardeida. — Mataku  urepoy  {botaunu  melanotus.)  The 
bittern  is  very  generally  spread  over  the  whole  of  New  Zea- 
land ;  it  is  of  a  buff  color,  with  brown  spots,  and  lighter  under 
the  breast ;  it  utters  three  hollow  sounds,  and  then  ceases  for 
a  short  period  before  it  commences  again.  When  it  stands  at 
rest  or  sleeps,  it  elevates  its  bill  to  the  heavens,  which  gives  it 
a  very  singular  appearance. 

The  mataku  (herodias  mataku)  is  of  a  bright  ash  color.  The 
top  of  the  head  is  covered  with  slight  bristles,  and  the  back  of 
the  skull  is  of  a  red  color,  perfectly  bald ;  its  neck  and  legs 
are  long.  The  female  lays  two  eggs  of  a  pale  blue  color, 
about  the  size  of  a  turkey's  egg.  It  is  a  very  shy  bird,  and 
seldom  seen ;  it  flies  gracefully,  with  its  long  legs  stretched  out 
like  a  tail. 

Kotuku,  {Herodias  flavirostris^  the  white  crane ;  a  beauti- 
ful and  rare  bird ;  it  has  a  yellow  bill,  and  dark  green  legs. 
Though  sufficiently  abundant  in  the  Southern  Islandi  it  is 
seldom  seen  in  the  Northern,  so  that  there  is  a  saying,  kotahi 
ano  te  rerenga  o  te  kotuku,  that  is,  a  man  only  sees  the  white 
crane  once  in  his  lifetime. 

Fam.  Scolopacidee. — Tarapunga^  {himantopus  Nova  Zeal:) 
a  white  breasted  bird,  black  wings,  back  and  head,  red  bill 
slightly  curved  upwards,  with  long  red  legs ;  it  is  found  on  the 
Taupo  lake,  with  several  other  varieties  of  sea  birds. 

Fam.  Anatidoe. — Parera^  turuki,  (anas  superciUosa,)  the 
duck,  very  similar  to  the  wild  duck  of  England.  Those  in 
the  interior  appear  to  be  of  a  larger  kind. 

Putangitangiy  {casarca  variegata,)  the  paradise  duck.  This 
fine  bird  is  confined  to  the  southern  part  of  the  Northern 
Island,  but  is  very  abundant  in  the  Middle  Island.  The  colors 
of  this  bird  are  very  distinct,  the  breast  white,  and  the  wings 
of  a  yellowish  red,  or  dark  orange,  with  partly  colored  back ; 
it  is  easily  tamed. 

JFiOf  (hgmenolaimus  matacorynchus^)  the  blue  duck,  is  found 
abundantly  in  the  mountain  streams  of  the  south  part  of  the 
North  Island,  and  in  the  Middle ;  it  takes  its  name  from  its 
cry.  This  bird  has  a  remarkable  membrane  attached  to  its 
bill ;  it  is  highly  prized  by  the  natives ;  climbs  up  rocks  by 


408  NATURAL   HISTORY. 

means  of  the  joints  of  its  wings,  which  are  bare  of  feathers, 
and  horny,  and  uses  its  short  strong  tail  as  a  support.  There 
are  many  varieties  of  teal,  widgeon,  coots,  &c. 

Fam.  Alcidce. — Korora,  {tphenisctu  minor,)  the  small  green 
and  white  penguin,  formerly  very  abundant ;  it  lays  two  white 
eggs  in  the  crevices  of  rocks  and  holes  near  the  sea-shore. 

Iloiho  {eudyptes  antipodes).  This  penguin  is  double  the 
size  of  the  former,  the  back  is  dark  brown,  and  the  breast 
white  ;  it  is  very  rarely  seen  in  the  Northern  Island. 

Fam.  Procellaridce, — Titi,  (pelecanoides  urinatrix,)  a  dark 
grey  sea  bird,  with  white  breast,  which  goes  inland  at  sun-set, 
and  flies  about  in  the  dusk  for  a  short  time,  with  great  noise ; 
it  lays  one  egg  in  the  holes  of  rocks,  and  is  very  fat.  It  is 
supposed  to  deposit  a  store  of  food  for  its  young  when 
hatched,  and  then  to  abandon  it ;  hence  the  saying,  **He  manu 
wangainga  tahi,*^ — *' A  bird  that  only  feeds  its  young  once.** 

Toroa  (diotnedea  exulans). — The  albatross  is  found  in  the 
New  Zealand  seas;  the  feathers  are  highly  prized  by  the 
natives  as  ornaments,  especially  the  under  wing  feathers,  which 
are  pure  white,  and  the  down,  tufts  of  which  are  worn  in  the 
lobe  of  the  ear.  The  wing  bones  also  are  used  as  neck  and 
ear  ornaments. 

Fam.  Pelecanidoe. — Kauwau  or  karukiruhi^  (graucahu 
varius  vel  carunculatus,)  a  black,  or  black  and  white  bird, 
abounding  in  rivers  and  harbours.  They  are  sociable  birds, 
and  build  their  nests  in  great  numbers  on  the  same  tree,  over- 
hanging the  water;  the  smell  of  one  of  these  colonies  is  almost 
insupportable. 

The  totoara  is  a  slate-colored  bird,  with  a  few  little  white 
feathers  near  the  bill ;  it  is  the  New  Zealand  robin,  and  a  very 
grave  but  social  tame  bird,  always  follovnng  the  steps  of  man. 

There  are  several  birds  omitted  in  this  list,  which  are  not 
classed,  but  the  most  interesting  are  here  given. 

Fam.  ScincidoB* — New  Zealand  formerly  possessed  many 
species  of  lizards,  and  if  native  accounts  may  be  depended 
upon,  many  of  these  were  of  very  large  size.  Even  when 
Europeans  first  visited  the  islands,  they  were  far  more  numer- 
ous than  they  now  are ;  their  decrease  may  be  attributed  to 


NATURAL  HlffTORT.  409 

the  frequent  fires,  and  to  the  introduction  of  the  cat,  which 
greedily  preys  upon  them ;  they  are  therefore  now,  compara- 
tively speaking,  seldom  seen.  The  chief  lizard  still  existing 
is  the  ruatara,  [tUiqua  Zealandica,)  the  guana;  it  is  about 
eighteen  inches  long ;  the  head  is  large,  with  a  fine  benevolent 
eye ;  it  has  a  row  of  white  serrated  points  on  the  back,  with 
similar  dark  ones  on  the  tail ;  the  teeth  are  rounded,  and  the 
tongue  triangular;  its  toes  are  slender;  it  lays  on  its  back  when 
basking  in  the  sun,  and  burrows.  It  is  now  only  found  on  the 
small  islands  in  Cook's  Straits,  or  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
North  Island.  It  is  of  a  dark  brown  color,  intermingled  with 
yellow.  The  natives  have  a  great  horror  of  it,  although  it  is 
perfectly  harmless. 

KakarUci  {nauUinus  elegans)  is  a  beautiful  bright  green  lizard, 
about  eight  inches  long ;  it  has  the  power  of  contracting  or 
dilating  the  pupil  of  its  eye.  The  natives  are  much  alarmed 
at  the  sight  of  it,  and  especially  if  they  should  hear  it  laugh, 
(so  they  call  the  noise  it  makes,)  which  they  say  is  a  sure  sign 
of  death  to  the  person  who  hears  it.  The  natives  imagine 
that  all  diseases  are  caused  by  this  lizard  crawling  down  their 
throats,  when  they  are  asleep.  The  male  is  perfectly  green ; 
the  female  has  a  longitudinal  line  of  white  spots  running  down 
the  lower  part  of  each  side. 

There  are  several  other  kinds  of  lizards,  one  is  beautifrdly 
spotted  and  of  a  black  velvet  color ;  another  is  of  a  flesh  color 
under  the  neck  and  belly,  and  dark  brown  on  the  back.* 

Ord.  Amphibia. — Fam.  rarue. — Until  lately  the  frog  was  not 
supposed  to  be  in  New  Zealand,  for  although  Polack  stated  he 
could  not  sleep  for  the  noise  of  their  croaking,  no  other  travel- 
ler has  met  with  such  annoyance,  though  many  have  traversed 
tbe  country  far  more  frequently  and  entirely  than  he  ever  did, 

*  Black  lizards,  with  hair  or  down  on  them,  and  aboat  four  feet  long,  are 
said  to  abound  in  the  green  stone  lake.  A  man  named  Hawkins,  who  lived  in 
that  part  of  the  island  for  many  years,  is  said  to  have  kept  one  of  these  lizards, 
which  he  fastened  with  a  dog  chain.  They  are  amphibious.  The  same  indi- 
vidual caught  one  of  the  night  emus,  which  is  said  to  have  stood  near  a  yard 
high.  He  also  met  with  what  he  called  a  kind  of  a  fresh- water  otter :  as  he 
found  their  skins  wore  not  equal  to  those  of  the  seal,  he  did  not  trouble  himself 
any  more  about  them.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  boaver  already  alluded  to. 


410  NATDRAL   HmOBT. 

without  even  seeing  anything  of  it.  The  discovery  of  the  frog  in 
New  Zealand  was  reserved  for  the  gold-diggers  at  Coromandel 
Harbour,  where,  in  \852,  three  email  ones  were  found  in  their 
pita ;  and  afterwards,  I  heard,  that  one  had  occasionally  been 
turned  up  by  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  Auckland.  With 
these  exceptions,  I  have  not  seen  any,  or  heard  of  others  seeing 
them ;  they  must  be  extremely  rare,  and  had  not  I  heard  from 
the  natives  that  there  is  a  large  £rog  on  the  Island  of  Mana,  I 
should  have  been  inclined  to  think  those  at  Coromandel  had 
been  casually  imported  from  Sydney.  The  natives  describe 
&  large  frog,  which  they  call,  moko  mokai,  a  mam  te  ware  aitu, 
as  having  once  been  very  abundant  on  that  island ;  they  say 
it  was  as  large  as  a  small  pullet,  and  in  the  tadpole  state  was 
more  than  a  foot  long ;  they  also  affirmed  there  was  a  smaller 
one  found  in  the  same  locality ;  but  the  existence  of  the  bull- 
frog at  present  rests  on  their  report. 

No  snakes  have  ever  been  found,  although  there  are  reports 
of  their  having  been  introduced  by  the  Sydney  shipping. 
Many  of  the  earth-worms  are  almost  like  snakes,  being  con- 
siderably more  than  a  foot  long ;  some  of  these  were  formerly 
eaten,  and  esteemed  very  good :  this  was  the  case  with  the 
take  tipa,  a  very  long  large  worm,  which  feeds  on  roots.  There 
is  a  saying,  that  the  reka,  or  sweetness,  of  this  worm  remained 
in  the  mouth  for  two  days  after  it  was  eaten. 


The  fish  of  the  New  Zealand  seas  are  plentiful,  and  not 
deficient  in  variety.  I  shall  endeavor  to  ^ve  a  brief  account 
of  the  principal  kinds. 

Aihe,  is  a  large  fish,  twenty-four  feet  long,  having  a  small 


NATURAL  HISTORY.  411 

head  like  the  porpoise,  with  similar  teeth ;  it  probably  belongs 
to  that  order,  and  is  synonymous  with  rarihi. 

Awa^  is  a  small  tidal-river  fish,  resembling  the  roach ;  the 
settlers  call  it  the  herring,  which  it  only  resembles  in  shape. 
It  is  synonymous  with  takeke. 

Araara^  a  fish  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  very  broad  and 
fiat,  having  remarkably  large  scales,  and  its  dorsal  and  caudal- 
fins  covered  vnth  scales.     [See  plate.] 

HapukUf  or  whapuku  conmionly  called  the  cod|  but  a  much 
richer  fish  in  fiavor :  externally,  it  more  resembles  the  salmon, 
and  is  known  in  New  Holland  as  the  Dew  or  Jew  fish ;  it 
attains  a  large  size,  and  is  considered  the  best  sea  fish  of  New 
Zealand. 

Kahawaii  {centropristes  truita),  or  mulloides. — It  is  generally 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  inches  long ;  is  taken  with  a  hook  and 
a  piece  of  the  haliotis  shell :  the  flavor  is  rather  sour,  but  its 
great  abundance  renders  it  very  valuable  as  an  article  of  food. 

Kirikiri,  and  pakirikiri^  a  rough-skinned  fish,  having  two 
spines  on  the  back,  which  it  can  elevate  at  pleasure ;  it  is  a 
short  but  broad  fish  (labrtu  pcecilopleura) . 

Koputaratara,  kopuawai^  papati,  and  totara :  these  are  all 
names  for  the  diodon  ;  this  is  a  round  fish,  covered  vfith  spines ; 
it  possesses  the  power  of  inflating  itself,  when  it  looks  like  a 
ball ;  the  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  are  very  small ;  it  has  no  teeth, 
but  an  upper  and  lower  rim  of  bone ;  it  contains  a  double- 
shaped  air  vessel,  which  is  used  as  a  bottle  by  the  natives. 

Kanue,  a  fish  abundant  in  some  parts  of  the  coast,  and  also 
found  in  the  Wangape,  a  fresh-water  lake,  seventy  miles  inland, 
near  the  Waikato. 

Kumukumu,  is  a  red  fish,  with  a  hard  homy  skin  ;  it  derives 
its  name  from  the  noise  which  it  makes. 

Manga^  or  paro,  a  long  narrow  fish,  with  very  minute  scales, 
irom  two  to  four  feet  in  length,  like  the  blade  of  a  sword ;  the 
back  dark  green,  the  belly  silvery  white,  having  a  dorsal  fin 
running  nearly  its  entire  length.  It  is  never  caught,  but  is 
said  to  be  killed  by  the  frost,  as  it  swims  near  the  surface  ;  on 
a  frosty  morning,  numbers  are  thrown  upon  the  shore;  it  is 
highly  esteemed. 


412  NATUBAL  mSTO&T. 

Fam.  SeyUium.  (squalus  lima). — Mango^  this  name  is  giren 
to  the  dog-fish  as  well  as  the  shark ;  it  abounds  on  the  New 
Zealand  shores,  and  is  taken  in  great  numbers ;  some  of  them 
attain  a  very  large  size,  and  will  snap  off  a  man's  leg.  Mango 
pare  (squalus  zygoma)  hammer«headed  shark. 

Tuatini  is  a  species  of  shark,  often  taken  ten  feet  long ;  it 
is  very  savage.  The  teeth  were  set  in  rows,  and  formerly  used 
as  knives  for  cutting  up  human  bodies  for  the  oven. 

Nga^  a  gelatinous  fish,  from  one  to  two  feet  long,  somewhat 
like  a  thick  eel ;  the  whalers  call  it  a  squid. 

Maroro^  the  flying-fish  ;  it  is  sometimes  near  two  feet  long, 
and  is  considered  very  good  eating.  {Exocetus  exiliena  ei 
voUtans.) 

Moki,  (latria  ciliaris,)  the  haddock.  Some  call  it  the  rock 
cod  :  it  is  about  fourteen  inches  long,  and  in  flavor  more  like 
the  cod  than  the  other  fish  which  goes  by  its  name. 

Ngoiro,  and  koiro^  the  conger  eel,  is  very  similar  to  the 
European  one;  it  is  frequently  taken,  and  esteemed  good 
eating.     It  is  a  very  savage  fish. 

Pafcaurua,  wae^  the  stingy  ray.  This  remarkable  fish  is 
very  abundant  in  shallow  waters ;  it  frequently  attains  a  great 
size,  and  is  often  nearly  two  feet  in  breadth,  has  a  long  tail,  and 
barbed  bone  beneath,  with  which  it  inflicts  very  dangerous 
wounds,  from  the  effects  of  which  many  have  died.  {Raia 
rastrata.) 

Patikiy  common  name  for  the  sole  and  flat-fish ;  the  latter  is 
found  in  rivers,  but  decreases  in  size  as  it  retires  from  the  sea; 
at  one  hundred  miles  inland,  it  is  not  more  than  two  inches  in 
diameter.     {Rhombus  plebeius.) 

Ngehe^  a  rock  fish,  curiously  spotted  white  and  brown. 

Pihnpiharau  (the  lamprey),  is  almost  eighteen  inches  long,  of 
a  silvery  color;  there  is  a  saying,  **NoItangiriri  te  pihapiharau,^ 
"  The  lamprey  comes  from  the  fountain  of  Rangiriri."  The 
name  of  the  fish  is  derived  from  its  many  gills.  It  is  taken 
in  large  quantities  by  pas,  or  weirs. 

liarif  is  a  large  fish,  with  two  long  white  appendages  to  its 
lower  jaw,  it  is  about  the  size  of  the  cod,  and  much  resembles 
it  both  in  appearance  and  flavor. 


NATURAL  HISrrORT.  4l3 

Takeke,  is  the  smelt,  which  is  much  the  same  as  the  European. 

Papakii  is  a  kind  of  cat-fish,  having  two  curious  projections 
like  feet,  and  the  ventral  fins  united. 

Tamure^  kouarea,  (the  snapper)  is  a  large  fish  like  the  bream : 
it  is  very  abundant,  and  the  most  generally  taken  of  all. 

Puraruraru,  is  a  red  fish  streaked,  with  spines  on  the  back 
and  fins  :  it  is  not  eaten. 

Tawatawa,  is  about  the  same  size  as  the  kahawai,  or  mackerel, 
which  it  closely  resembles  in  color  and  general  form.  There  is 
a  saying  of  this  fish,  '*Me  te  kiri  tawatawa  ha  tdkato  o  te  tangata 
nei,*^ — ''As  the  skin  of  the  tawatawa  when  caught,  so  is  the 
skin  of  the  man  when  slain." 

Raumarie^  a  beautiful  fish,  shaped  like  a  mackerel. 

Tuere^  a  kind  of  lamprey,  about  two  feet  long;  it  has 
several  small  feelers  attached  to  the  head,  and  has  a  broad  flat 
tail ;  the  color  is  dark  brown ;  the  body  is  of  imiform  thick- 
ness, the  same  as  the  pihapiharau. 

Uku  oru,  a  variety  of  the  ray,  tutuira. 

Warehou,  warehenga^  a  fish  found  on  rocky  coasts;  it 
attains  a  length  of  two  feet  by  eighteen  inches  in  width ;  it 
resembles  the  kahawai^  but  is  much  superior  to  it  in  flavor. 

Sakoy  a  large  fish  like  the  salmon  ifirosmius  venusius.) 

Hoka,  a  fish  about  two  feet  long,  of  a  reddish  color,  with 
small  scales. 

PuAaiaOf  a  small  black  and  red  fish.  There  is  a  saying,  if 
this  be  taken,  the  hapuku  is  sure  also  to  be  caught* 

Matawa,  a  large  fish,  nearly  twenty  feet  long,  narrow  in 
proportion ;  very  oily. 

Huranga^  a  large  oily  scaleless  fish,  resembling  the  shark. 

Fam.  Chimaridce,  {calhrhynchui  antarcticas,)  repe  repe. 

New  Zealand  has  no  large  fresh-water  fish.  The  only 
exception  is  the  tunaf  or  eel;  there  are  many  varieties  of 
it,  and  almost  all  the  other  fresh-water  fish  partake  more  or 
less  of  a  similar  character.  The  number  of  names  given  to 
this  fish,  and  the  careful  way  they  have  noticed  every  little 
difiference  between  one  and  another,  clearly  shows  the  great 
value  the  natives  put  upon  it.     The  eel  attains  a  very  large 


414  NATURAL  HiarroRT. 

size,  but  I  believe  it  is  a  different  kind  from  the  smaller  one. 
The  largest  eels  are  called  ruahine ;  they  were  originally  fed 
and  regarded  as  inferior  gods.  There  is  an  eel  found  in 
marshy  ground  called  a  iuoro^  which  is  said  to  have  a  large 
head,  and  to  attack  men. 

Taikarakeke,  a  red  eel,  found  at  the  roots  of  the  flax  plant. 

Hohoy  kokopUf  a  large  fresh-water  fish,  having  a  very  great 
head  and  mouth ;  it  is  about  two  feet  long,  and  nearly  one 
thick  ;  it  makes  a  loud  noise,  which  can  be  heard  at  some  dis- 
tance.   It  is  scaleless,  and  resembles  an  eel.    I  have  not  seen  it. 

Inanga,  a  small  fresh-water  fish,  abounding  in  most  of  the 
lakes,  especially  Taupo  and  Rotorua.  It  is  from  three  to 
five  inches  long  {eleotris  basalis), 

Karohi,  a  very  small  transparent  scaly  fish,  two  inches 
long,  found  in  tidal  rivers. 

Koaro,  a  small  fresh-water  fish,  three  inches  long,  much 
esteemed ;  this  is  found  in  most  rivers  and  lakes. 

KokopUf  a  scaly  fish  found  in  every  fresh  water  stream.  It 
is  from  five  to  ten  inches  long,  and  rather  thick  in  proportion. 

Pangohengohcy  papangoke^  a  fresh  water  fish,  from  four  to 
eight  inches  long,  and  scaleless :  syn.  papangoko. 

Poko  tohe,  porohe,  a  small  fresh-water  fish  of  the  Waikato, 
one  and  half  inches  long. 

Takaruwha,  a  fresh-water  fish  a  foot  long,  and  thick  in 
proportion,  found  in  the  Waingongoro;  this  is  called  the 
eel  trout,  and  rises  at  the  fly. 

Takeke,  a  small  fresh-water  fish,  syn.  tikih^mu  It  is  an 
oily  fish. 

Toioronga,  a  small  fish  found  in  tidal  rivers,  with  scales. 

Tuaweta,  a  variety  of  the  manga, 

Tangariki,  a  small  fresh-water  fish,  from  two  to  three 
inches  long. 

Tohitohif  a  small  fresh-water  fish,  about  two  inches  long. 

The  varieties  of  the  small  fresh-water  fish  are  also  dis- 
distinguished  by  many  names,  though  to  ordinary  observers, 
no  difference  is  discernible. 

Amongst  the  Crustacea  is  the  koura,  which  is  the  general 


NATURAL  mSTORT.  415 

name  for  both  the  sea  cray  fish  and  the  fresh  water ;  the  former 
is  nearly  two  feet  long,  and  abundant  on  all  the  rocky  shores ; 
the  latter  is  from  four  to  eight  inches  long.  The  Rotorua 
lakes  abound  with  the  largest,  but  near  Paparoa,  on  the  Wan- 
ganui,  I  met  with  one  nearly  a  foot  long. 

Wae  rau  potikete,  is  the  sea  spider,  about  one  and  a  half 
inches  across  the  carapace;  it  is  covered  with  sharp  spines, 
and  is  used  as  a  bait  for  the  shark. 

Papaktty  the  crab  :  the  largest  is  about  two  and  a  half 
inches  across  the  carapace ;  a  small  crab,  called  the  rerepari, 
abounds  in  the  salt  marshes.  There  is  also  a  small  crab  foimd 
in  the  mussel,  which  has  a  very  round  red  body  and  short  legs. 
I  have  met  with  a  little  fresh-water  crab,  seventy  miles  inland ; 
it  is  not  above  half  an  inch  across  the  shell,  delicately  formed, 
of  a  dusky  green  color.    There  is  no  lobster  in  New  Zealand. 

Kowitiwiti  moana,  is  a  very  small  sea  shrimp,  about  an  inch 
long,  abounding  on  the  sandy  beaches. 

Mamaiti,  is  a  larger  kind ;  there  is  also  a  land  insect  nearly 
approaching  the  shrimp  in  form  and  habits. 

Tarekihi,  a  beautiful  flat  silvery  fish,  with  a  black  spot  on 
the  back. 

Hippocampus  abdominalis,  the  sea-horse.  I  have  met  with 
two  kinds  of  this  singular  fish,  one  being  straight  and  narrow. 
It  is  chiefly  found  in  the  north  part  of  the  island. 

Patangai^  is  a  star  fish  with  twelve  rays. 

Wekiy  is  one  with  a  very  small  body  and  five  long  rays. 

Tori  tori,  and  ko  toretore,  are  sea  anemone. 

Ongaonga,  sea  nettle,  a  mollusca. 

Pungoungou,  or  pungorungoru,  or  papa  taura,  are  varieties  of 
the  sponge ;  some  of  these  are  equal  to  the  best  Turkish  ones. 

Poti  poti,  Portuguese  man  of  war.  PhasaUa,  a  beautiful 
mollusca,  of  a  fine  dark  blue  or  purple. 

The  common  name  for  all  fish  is  ika,  or  ngohengohe  ;  of  all 
univalve  shells,  pupu  ;  and  of  bivalves,  pipi  and  anga,  which 
includes  both  kinds.  It  is  remarked  by  Dr.  Gray,  that  the 
shells  of  New  Zealand,  like  those  of  other  parts  of  the  southern 
ocean,  are  many  of  them  of  a  larger  and  brighter  color  than 
the  species  found  in  the  same  latitudes  of  the  northern  hemi- 


416  NATURAL  HlflrrORY. 

sphere,  and  this  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  terrestrial 
groups :  some  of  them  belong  to  genera  which  are  only  found 
in  the  warmer  parts  of  the  northern  half  of  the  world.  The 
genus  Struthiolaria,  is  peculiar  to  New  Zealand. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  most  beautiful  kinds : — 

Fam.  Muricida. — Putotara,  {triion  variegaium.)  This  beau- 
tiful shell  is  often  nearly  a  foot  long,  and  is  used  as  a  trumpet; 
it  is  only  found  at  the  extreme  north  of  the  Northern  Island, 
but  appears  formeriy  to  have  been  more  generally  diffiised. 

Fam.  VoluiidcB. — The  {valuta  magnified)  is  only  found  near 
Cape  Maria,  Van  Diemen,  and  the  North  Cape;  it  is  the 
largest  and  finest  volute  foimd  in  New  Zealand.  Pupu  kari 
kawa,  is  a  large  spotted  volute. 

Fam.  TrochidcB. — This  is  a  numerous  family .-  Ngaruru — ^is 
a  very  large  kind.  This  name  is  also  given  to  the  {irochus 
imperialu.)    Miti  miti  is  a  small  trochus. 

Fam.  Haliotidce. — Pawa,  the  {haliotis  iris,)  or  mutton  fish. 
This  beautiful  shell  is  found  of  considerable  size ;  it  is  used 
for  the  manufacture  of  fish  hooks.  The  fish  is  both  eaten  raw 
and  dried  by  the  natives :  it  is  very  tough.  There  are  several 
varieties  of  this  shell  found  in  different  parts  of  the  islands. 
There  is  also  a  small  land  shell,  nearly  allied  to  the  haliotis  ; 
it  is  about  an  inch  long,  of  an  olive  color,  and  pearly  lustre 
inside.  The  slug  on  which  it  is  found  is  of  a  dark  chocolate 
color  (haUotoidece^  Wanganui). 

Fam.  PatelUdcB — Ngakapi,  the  limpet.  Many  varieties  are 
foimd,  some  very  large,  others  of  a  star  form ;  some  sessile, 
others  pierced  at  the  apex. 

Fam.  ChitonidcB. — Papa  piko  (a  large  chiton) :  this  is  also  a 
numerous  family. 

Fam.  HelieidcB. — Pupu  rangi,  {helix  Busbyi),  a  large  flattened 
shell,  with  a  thick  olive  colored  shining  periostraca:  the  inside 
is  blue.  This  fine  shell  is  sometimes  nearly  three  inches  in  diam- 
eter ;  its  habitation  is  the  tops  of  lofty  forest  trees,  from  which 
it  is  shaken  by  storms ;  the  natives  therefore  call  it  the  shell 
of  heaven.  It  is  not  found  much  south  of  Auckland  in  the 
North  Island,  but  Sir  G.  Grey  found  a  broken  specimen  in 
Massacre  Bay,  Middle  Island.     Bulimus  hongipupu  harakeke. 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  417 

is  chiefly  found  near  the  North  Cape;  it  is  there  abundant 
amongst  the  flax  plants.  This  fine  shell  is  of  a  dead  chocolate 
color,  with  either  a  white  or  bright  orange  interior;  it  is  nearly 
four  inches  long.  The  bulimus  Jlbratus,  is  said  to  abound  on 
the  three  kings. 

Fam.  Mesodesmidce, — Pipi. — This  is  more  abundant,  and 
larger  in  the  north,  occasionally  black  pearls  of  considerable 
size  are  found  in  them. 

Fam.  Mytilidce. — Kuku,  (mussel,)  is  very  abundant  in  the 
north  of  the  island,  where  it  is  frequently  found  ten  inches 
long ;  this  is  called  kuharu»  In  the  south,  one  is  found  with 
a  thick  bright  green  periostraca,  and  a  reddish  color  outside  ; 
another  with  a  thin  periostraca,  and  a  tuft  of  a  kind  of  flustra 
springing  from  the  upper  shell.  The  smallest  kind  is  called 
kukupara.     The  mussel  of  the  Middle  Island  is  striated. 

Fam.  Unionidece. — Karo,kakahi. — There  are  several  distinct 
varieties  of  the  unio ;  one  found  at  the  Waimate,  Bay  of 
Islands,  is  remarkable  for  its  flatness  ;  another  at  Taupe  is 
short  and  round,  with  a  very  dark  periostraca ;  another,  which 
is  common  in  the  south,  is  long,  narrow,  and  indented  in  the 
centre,  with  a  thick  shell ;  but,  by  far  the  most  beautiful 
variety  of  this  shell  is  found  in  the  Lake  Waikari ;  it  has  a 
clear  bright  yellowish  green  periostraca,  and  is  of  an  oval  form, 
about  three  inches  in  length. 

Fam.  Pinnidce, — Kokota  {pinna  Zelandica).  This  shell  is 
nearly  a  foot  long ;  part  of  the  inside  is  of  a  purple  pearly 
lustre ;  it  is  extremely  fragile,  and  seldom  obtained  perfect. 

Fam.  Pectinid€e. — Piwara^  kuakua,  the  largest  kind  is 
eaten ;  some  of  the  smaller  are  very  beautiful.  One  is  of  a 
bright  yellow ;  another  of  an  equally  bright  red  color. 

Fam.  Ostreidce. — (2Vo,)  ostrcea,  the  rock  oyster,  is  the  cocks- 
comb, and  is  identical  with  the  Australian.  If  taken  from 
below  the  low  water  mark,  it  is  extremely  good,  and  far 
superior  to  the  mud  oyster,  which  is  generally  large,  and  has 
a  strong  taste. 

Fam.  Terehratulidcs, — A  large  smooth  ierehratula  is  found 
in  Cook's  Straits.  Another  striated  one,  {terehratula  recurva,) 
and  a  smaller  smooth  one,  (terebratula  sanguinea,)  of  a  bright 

E  E 


418  NATURAL   HIsaX)RY. 

red  color,  are  also  found :  bunches  of  the  latter  are  frequently 
attached  to  the  same  point  and  to  each  other. 

Fam.  Sepiadce. — The  sepia^  or  cuttle-fish,  is  found  of  con- 
siderable size,  and  is  used  as  a  bait  for  fish. 

Fam.  SpiruUdce. — Piph  (penus  intermedia,)  this  is  much 
prized  as  an  article  of  food. 

Radiata. — {Echini.) — He  kina^  the  sea  egg,  or  hedgehog. 
There  are  several  varieties ;  one  kind  attains  a  large  size,  and 
is  of  an  orbicular  form ;  another  is  quite  flat ;  and  a  third  is 
of  an  oval  form :  all  have  remarkably  small  spines. 

On  the  east  coast,  the  paper  nautilus  muheke,  is  frequently 
found.  Some  specimens  are  very  large  and  beautiful.  A 
small  chambered  nautilus  is  abundant  on  all  the  coasts; 
also  several  varieties  of  a  deep  sea  purple  heJix.  The  rort, 
a  large  black  slug,  abounds  on  rocky  coasts;  one  has  an 
oblong  white  shield,  about  three  inches  long  and  one  and  a 
half  wide ;  another  is  without  it ;  both  are  eaten. 

Annulosa. —  Class  Myriapoda, — Sara  (scohpendra).  This 
centipede  is  of  a  dark  yellowish  green,  of  large  size,  fre- 
quently nearly  six  inches  long;  it  is  quite  as  large  as  the 
Australian  one,  but  not  so  dangerous.  I  have  never  heard 
of  any  one  being  bitten  by  it,  although  I  have  seen  boys 
repeatedly  handling  it. 

Class  Arachnida. — Punga  tcerewere,  puawere,  is  the  general 
name  of  the  spiders  of  New  Zealand.  I  have  remarked,  they 
always  select  their  habitation  on  a  ground  of  similar  color 
to  their  own.  A  green  spider  will  be  found  on  leaves,  a 
brown  one  on  the  bark  of  trees. 

There  are  several  large  spiders,  but  only  one  poisonous  one, 
called  a  katipo  ;  it  is  black,  with  a  red  cross  on  its  back ;  the 
bite  causes  immediate  inflammation,  and  much  pain;  it  is 
generally  found  in  tufts  of  grass  near  the  sea  side. 

There  is  a  small  insect  found  on  the  sea  shore,  closely  re- 
sembling the  scorpion  in  every  respect  but  that  of  having 
no  tail ;  its  bite  is  not  much  more  irritating  than  that  of 
the  flea. 

Diptera,  namu  {simulium,)  a  small  black  sand-fly,  is  also 


NATURAJ.  HianroRY.  419 

a  very  troublesome  summer  guest :  it  is,  however,  easily  de- 
stroyed. 

Mtucttf  (sarcophaga,  IcBmica.) — Rango  pango,  Patupaearehe^ 
the  blue  bottle  fly ;  it  produces  its  young  alive,  and  the  female 
makes  an  intolerable  noise  until  she  is  delivered.  The  male 
is  smaller  and  much  quieter.  I  have  seen  a  female  when  killed, 
devoured  by  her  own  progeny.  This  fly  is  considered  as  an 
aitua^  or  omen  of  death,  and  very  naturally,  for  being  a  meat 
fly,  it  scents  diseased  persons,  who  being  never  washed  as  they 
approach  their  dissolution,  become  most  foetid. 

(Musca),  rango  tua  maro,  the  large  yellow-bodied  meat  fly ; 
this  is  similar  in  its  character  to  the  former. 

There  is  also  a  very  fine  large  forest  fly,  covered  with  great 
bristles;  it  is  rarely  seen.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  meat 
flies  are  not  of  Australian  origin  ;  both  the  English  and  A  us- 
traliau  house  flies  have  been  introduced. 

The  mosquito f  (culex^)  waewae  roa,  is  also  very  abundant, 
and  annoying;  the  natives  say  it  was  introduced  by  the 
Europeans. 

Homoptera. — One  of  the  largest  insects  is  the  weta,  which 
is  found  in  the  forest,  amongst  decayed  timber ;  it  has  powerful 
serrated  legs,  with  which  it  seizes  its  prey,  and  crushes  it  in  its 
joints,  wounding  with  its  sharp  spines ;  it  is  otherwise  harmless. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  the  grasshopper  {locustidce)^ 
mawitiwitif  some  of  these  attain  a  very  large  size ;  one  of  the 
largest,  pakauroaroa,  is  of  a  bright  green  color  :  there  is  also 
a  small  black  one. 

Cicada^  Zeal: — There  are  four  varieties  of  the  tarakihi 
(locust) ;  these  lively  and  noisy  insects  are  only  heard  in 
summer :  one  is  very  beautiful,  being  of  a  light  green  color^ 
streaked  with  silver  bands,  and  all  have  three  bright  red  spots 
on  the  forehead,  disposed  in  the  form  of  a  triangle,  which  shine 
like  little  rubies. 

The  wairaka^  ro,  {mantis,)  also  abounds ;  some  of  these  inte- 
resting insects  are  of  considerable  size,  and  of  a  bright  green 
color.  The  case  of  the  imperfect  insect  is  curiously  made  of 
little  twigs  glued  together,  forming  a  kind  of  sack,  which  the 
inmate   has  the  power  of  moving  about  at  pleasure,  from 

E  eS 


420  NATURAL   HISTORY. 

place  to  place.     It  is  called  kopi,  from  its  power  of  shutting 
itself  up  in  a  bag. 

Orthoptera. — The  blatta  (Americana)  has  been  introduced ;  a 
kind  indigenous  to  New  Zealand,  closely  resembles  the  Aus* 
tralian  one.  The  kekeriru  (cimex  nemoralis)  is  a  large  black  one 
chiefly  inhabiting  the  forest,  but  found  in  wooden  and  raupo 
buildings.  The  smell  of  this  insect  is  intolerable.  It  is  also 
found  in  the  Isle  of  France,  where  it  is  called  the  kakerlac. 

Neuroptera  (libella), — Kajwkapowai,  kekewai,  a  large  dra- 
gon fly ;  in  summer,  it  is  frequently  seen  in  great  numbers  on 
the  sea  shore ;  probably  when  a  swarm  of  them  are  exhausted, 
they  fall  into  the  sea,  and  are  thus  washed  on  shore  by  the 
tide.  There  is  also  a  small  blue  and  red  dragon  fly,  similar 
to  the  English  kinds. 

Hymenoptera  (formica), — Pokorua  and  popokorua.  There 
is  a  large  red  ant,  and  a  minute  small  one ;  a  large  black  kind, 
with  another  extremely  diminutive.  The  white  ant  is  also 
found.  But  none  of  these  are  in  sufficient  abundance  to  be 
troublesome.  I  have  likewise  met  with  the  formica  lea  in 
several  localities ;  it  is,  I  believe,  identical  with  that  of  Aus- 
tralia and  Europe. 

Hemiptera. — Kiri  whenua,  a  garden  bug :  several  varieties 
are  found  in  the  woods  and  in  the  fern. 

Lepidoptera. — Pepe,  There  are  perhaps  twenty  varieties  of 
the  butterfly,  but  so  thinly  scattered,  that,  excepting  a  few 
kinds,  they  are  seldom  seen;  the  rarest  are  found  on  the 
mountains.  Amongst  the  most  beautiful  of  the  butterflies 
found  in  the  North  Island  are  the  Vanessa  Gonerilla,  Vanessa 
Ilea,  Cynthia  Cardui  (the  painted  lady).  It  is  remarkable  that 
this  beautiful  insect  is  identical  in  New  Zealand,  Australia, 
and  Europe ;  the  precise  number  of  spots  is  found  in  each. 
The  Polyommatus  Edna  also  closely  resembles  one  of  our 
European  butterflies.  In  the  Middle  Island,  a  fine  large 
butterfly  is  found  which  somewhat  resembles  the  purple 
emperor ;  a  blue  argus  is  also  seen  on  the  high  mountains. 
Two  sphinx  moths  also  are  found ;  one  is  very  common,  feed- 
ing on  the  kumara  leaves  (convohobis  batata).  There  is  no 
white  butterfly  in  New  Zealand.     Amongst  the  moths,  by 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  421 

far  the  finest  is  the  Hepialus  Ruhroviridansy  which  measures 
nearly  six  inches  from  the  tip  of  one  wing  to  the  other. 
Another  smaller  kind  of  the  Hepialus  is  very  abundant  in 
summer  evenings.  The  Hepialus  Virescens  is  also  a  beautiful 
moth;  so  likewise  the  Pari  kori  taua.  The  Nyctemera  is 
also  found  in  New  South  Wales. 

Coleoptera. — Mumutaua^  a  large  beetle  found  on  the  sand 
hills.  The  elytra  are  remarkably  soft.  This  beetle  is  fre- 
quently attacked  by  a  fungus,  which  takes  possession  of  the 
entire  insect. 

Papa  papa,  a  small  brown  beetle,  very  abundant  on  a  sum- 
mer's evening. 

Mumuy  a  large  green  beetle,  found  in  the  forest. 

Kiri  wai  manuka^  a  small  green  beetle,  abounding  in  the 
summer  amongst  the  manuka  trees  (leptospennum  scopiarum); 
it  is  striped  with  green  and  red. 

Kapapa,  {prionoplus  reticularis,)  a  larger  cerambix,  whose 
grub  is  very  destructive  to  fruit  trees.  There  are  several 
beautiful  varieties  of  the  curculio.  The  nemocephalus  barbi- 
cornis  brentus  is  nearly  three  inches  long.  The  ancistropterus 
quadri  spinosus  is  a  very  beautiful  insect,  and  also  several  of 
the  species  scolopterus, 

Kokopurangiy  {sanguis  uga,)  a  small  water  leech.  There 
are  also  several  kinds  of  land  leeches;  a  bright  red  one; 
another  of  a  dark  chocolate  color,  and  a  white  one:  they 
abound  in  damp  humid  localities. 


A   VKULTATINU  LOCI'ST- 


422  NATURAL    HISTOKY. 


THE   BULBUSH    CATEKPILLAH. 

Description  of  the  Bulrush  Caterpillar  fSphBria  Bohertsta; 

Native  name,  Aweto-HoUteJ. 

This  singular  plant,  which  is  a  native  of  New  Zealand,  may 
be  classed  amongst  the  most  remarkable  productions  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom. 

There  are  birds  which  dispossess  others  of  their  nests,  and 
marine  animals  which  take  up  their  abode  in  deserted  shells ; 
but  this  plant  surpasses  all,  in  killing  and  taking  possession, 
making  the  body  of  an  insect — and  that,  too,  very  probably, 
a  living  one — the  foundation  from  whence  it  rears  its  stem,  and 
the  source  from  which  it  derives  its  support.  It  certainly 
forms  one  of  the  most  surprising  links  between  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdom  yet  noticed,  and,  as  such,  merits  as  circum- 
stantial a  description  as  our  present  imperfect  acquaintance 
with  it  will  allow. 

The  aweto  is  chiefly  found  at  the  root  of  the  rata  (metro* 
sideros  robusta).  The  plant,  in  every  instance,  exactly  fills 
the  body  of  the  caterpillar,  in  the  finest  specimens  it  attains 
the  length  of  three  inches  and  a  half;  and  the  stem,  which 
germinates  from  this  metamorphosed  body,  is  from  six  to  ten 
inches  high ;  its  apex,  when  in  a  state  of  fructification,  re- 
sembles the  club-headed  bulrush  in  miniature.  There  are 
no  leaves — a  solitary  stem  comprises  the  entire  plant ;  if  any 
accident  breaks  it  ofi*,  a  second  arises  from  the  same  spot. 
The  body  is  always  found  buried,  and  the  greater  portion  of 
the  stalk  as  well ;  when  the  plant  has  attained  its  maturity, 
it  soon  dies  away. 

These  curious  plants  are  far  from  being  uncommon.  When 
fresh,  they  have  the  flavor  of  a  nut.  The  natives  eat  them, 
and  likewise  used  them  when  burnt  as  coloring  matter  for  their 
tattooing,  rubbing  the  powder  into  the  wounds,  in  which  state 
it  has  a  strong  animal  smell. 

When  newly  dug  up,  the  substance  of  the  caterpillar  is 
soft ;  and  being  divided  longitudinally,  the  intestinal  canal  is 
distinctly  seen.    Most  specimens  possess  the  legs  entire,  with 


NATURAL   HISTORY.  423 

the  homy  part  of  the  head,  the  mandibles  and  claws.  The 
vegetating  process  invariably  proceeds  from  the  nape  of  the 
neck,  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  insect,  in  crawl- 
ing to  the  place  where  it  inhumes  itself  prior  to  its  metamor- 
phosis, whilst  burrowing  in  the  vegetable  soil,  gets  some  of 
the  minute  seeds  of  this  fungus  between  the  scales  of  its  neck, 
from  which,  in  its  sickening  state,  it  is  unable  to  free  itself, 
and,  consequently,  being  nourished  by  the  warmth  and  mois- 
ture of  the  insect's  body,  then  lying  in  a  motionless  state,  they 
vegetate,  and  not  only  impede  the  progress  of  change  into  the 
chrysalis,  but  likewise  occasion  the  death  of  the  insect.  That 
this  vegetating  process  thus  commences  during  the  lifetime  of 
the  insect,  appears  certain  from  the  fact  of  the  caterpillar, 
when  converted  into  a  plant,  always  preserving  its  perfect 
form  :  in  no  one  instance  has  decomposition  appeared  to  have 
commenced,  or  the  skin  to  have  contracted  or  expanded  be- 
yond its  natural  size. 

A  plant  of  a  similar  kind  was  presented  to  me  in  1837,  by  a 
Mr.  John  Allan,  who  discovered  it  growing  in  abundance  on 
the  banks  of  the  Murrumbidgee,  in  a  rich  black  alluvial  soil. 
The  insect  in  some  specimens  was  six  inches  long,  and  the 
plant  about  the  same  length,  springing  like  the  New  Zealand 
one,  from  the  nape  of  the  neck.  In  form  this  plant  is  quite 
different  from  the  other,  having  a  thick  stem,  crowned  at  the 
top  with  a  fringe,  which,  when  expanded,  assumes  the  appear- 
ance of  a  full  blown  flower  upon  the  surface  of  the  soil,  the 
rest  being  buried  in  the  ground  :  this  top  is  of  a  brown  velvety 
texture.  Many  similar  ones  were  found  in  the  same  locality. 
Numerous  empty  shells  and  holes  were  observed  in  the 
vicinity ;  and,  at  night,  the  number  of  large  brown  moths 
was  so  great  as  more  than  once  to  extinguish  my  friend's 
lamp.  I  sent  it  to  Sir  W.  Hooker,  who  has  named  it  Spheeria 
Taylori, 

I  have  also  met  with  a  large  kind  of  beetle,  the  ''  mumutaua" 
abounding  amongst  the  sandhills  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sea, 
which  frequently  undergoes  the  same  vegetative  cliange.  The 
body  is  completely  filled  with  this  nutlike  substance  ;  but  in 
no  instance  have  I  noticed  any  plant  shooting  from  it. 


424  NATURAL   HISTORY. 

A  similar  caterpillar  to  the  aweto  has  been  found  at  Tara- 
nakiy  which  perfectly  changes  into  a  vegetable  substance,  but 
likewise  wants  the  bulrush.  This  was  dug  up  in  great  num- 
bers in  the  garden  of  J,  Wicksteed,  Esq.,  at  New  Plymouth* 

One  specimen  of  a  locust  was  brought  to  me  {SphcBria 
Basili)y  which  I  have  named  from  its  finder,  had  undergone 
this  change,  and  had  also  a  perfect  plant  growing  from  its 
neck,  very  much  resembling  a  small  white  fungus  found  on 
decayed  wood. 

Insects  having  a  vegetative  process  of  a  similar  kind,  have 
been  discovered  in  other  parts  of  the  world ;  and,  probably, 
when  the  flora  of  each  country  is  more  carefully  examined^ 
will  be  found  existing  in  most  of  them. 

Attwood,  in  his  history  of  Dominica,  gives  the  following 
account  of  a  vegetable  fly  found  in  that  island : — "  It  is  of  the 
appearance  and  size  of  a  small  cockchafer,  and  buries  itself  in 
the  ground,  where  it  dies :  and  from  its  body  springs  up  a 
small  plant,  which  resembles  a  young  coffee-tree,  only  that  its 
leaves  are  smaller.  It  is  often  over-looked  from  the  supposi- 
tion people  have  of  its  being  none  other  than  a  coffee  plant ; 
but  on  examining  it  properly,  the  difference  is  easily  distin- 
guished— the  head,  body,  and  feet  of  the  insect  appearing  at 
the  root  as  perfect  as  when  alive." 

In  the  American  Philosophical  Transactions,  the  Rev. 
Nicholas  Collins  describes  a  certain  zoophyton  in  the  Ohio 
county,  which  he  declares  is  both  vegetable  and  animal ;  for 
having  crawled  about  the  woods  in  its  animal  state  till  it  grows 
weary  of  that  mode  of  existence,  it  fixes  itself  in  the  ground, 
and  becomes  a  stately  plant,  with  a  stem  issuing  out  of  its 
mouth. 

A  small  vegetating  caterpillar  is  also  found  in  Britain,  the 
sphceria  entomorhiza.  The  Chinese  also  have  a  similar  plant, 
(sphceria  sinensis)  called  by  them  hea  tsaou  tungehungy 
or  the  sununer  vegetable  winter  insect.  In  Van  Diemen's 
Land  there  is  a  vegetating  caterpillar  (sphceria  gunnii);  it 
somewhat  resembles  the  New  Zealand  one,  from  which  it 
chiefly  differs  in  having  the  stem  of  its  vegetating  process 
thicker  tlian  the  insect  from  which  it  arises. 


NATURAL  HISTORY. 


425 


A  Polistes  attacked  by  many  specimens  of  a  filamentous 
sphseria  was  described  by  Felton  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions imder  the  name  of  vespa  crinita,  which  he  regarded  as 
a  new  species  of  hairy  wasp,  not  being  aware  that  it  was  a 
spheeria. 

Several  species  of  moths,  both  English  and  foreign,  especi- 
ally from  the  Brazils,  are  found  thus  attacked  ;  ants  also  and 
curculionidse  from  St.  Vincent's,  and  the  papa  of  the  cicada 
(spheeria  soboUfera). 

At  the  Bristol  Association  for  the  Cultivation  of  Science, 
held  in  August,  1836,  a  paper  was  read  by  J.  B.  Yates,  Esq.,  on 
the  vegetating  wasp  in  the  West  Indies,  in  which  the  author 
was  likewise  of  opinion,  that  the  vegetating  process  commenced 
during  the  life  of  the  insect ;  and,  certainly,  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  these  singular  caterpillars  favors  the  hypothesis.  If 
this  should  be  the  case,  it  is  an  instance  of  a  retrograde  step 
in  nature,  when  the  insect,  instead  of  rising  to  the  higher  order 
of  the  butterfly,  and  soaring  to  the  skies,  sinks  into  a  plant, 
and  remains  attached  to  the  soil  in  which  it  has  buried  itself. 


TCGrTATUCO    CATIBPIIXABJ. 


426  NATURAL  HisrroRY. 


IQNI8  FATUU8. 


In  travelling  through  the  dense  forest  which  extends  from 
Kaitaia  to  Waimate,  near  the  Bay  of  Islands,  I  encamped,  one 
extremely  rainy  night,  on  a  small  open  spot  by  the  side  of  a 
stream.  The  natives  who  accompanied  me,  soon  erected  a 
large  commodious  shed,  which  they  roofed  with  palm  leaves, 
and  rendered  quite  impervious  to  the  rain ;  the  sides  of  the 
building  were  thatched  with  the  same ;  along  the  front,  which 
was  left  open,  a  line  of  fires  soon  warmed  our  shivering 
company. 

No  sooner  had  my  companions  composed  themselves  to  sleep, 
and  the  fires  began  to  die  away,  than  I  observed  a  light  in  the 
comer  of  the  hut  next  to  me,  like  the  moon  shining  through 
a  chink.  Being  surprised  at  the  sight,  and  knowing  that  it  was 
a  moonless  night,  and  very  dark,  I  got  up  to  examine  the 
cause.  The  object  which  attracted  my  attention,  appeared 
like  a  globe  of  pale  light,  attached  to  the  point  of  a  palm 
leaf,  which  hung  from  the  roof.  The  rain  was  falling  in 
torrents.  Whilst  steadily  regarding  this  curious  sight,  I  was 
still  further  surprised  by  seeing  another  ball  of  light  come 
slowly  sailing  into  the  shed,  where  it  was  arrested  in  its  course 
by  the  wet  sleeve  of  a  shirt  hung  up  to  dry,  to  which  it 
adhered.  It  was  not  a  quivering  light,  but  pale  and  steady. 
The  air  appeared  to  be  charged  with  these  luminous  vapours ; 
for  while  regarding  the  two  in  the  shed,  a  series  of  them  floated 
past,  at  an  elevation  of  about  a  yard  from  the  ground. 

The  first  I  noticed,  had  a  globular  form,  having  a  brighter 
spot  in  the  centre,  or,  more  generally,  at  one  extremity. 
Sometimes  there  were  two  globes,  one  about  two  feet  from 
the  other,  connected  by  a  luminous  band ;  at  other  times,  the 
lights  appeared  like  little  clouds,  rendering  the  trees  near  them 
visible ;  then  they  resembled  rods,  about  four  feet  in  length, 
moving  perpendicularly  to  the  earth,  and  parallel  to  each  other. 
I  counted  as  many  as  a  dozen  of  these  luminous  rods  at  once, 
and  seldom  less  than  half  that  number.  They  all  invariably 
moved  in  the  same  direction,  from  N.  to  S.,  which  was  remark- 
able, as  the  rapid  river  close  by,  which  must  have  created  some 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  427 

current  in  the  air,  flowed  in  quite  a  contrary  direction,  and  the 
wind,  if  at  the  time  there  was  any,  blew  from  the  west,  as 
indicated  by  the  smoke.  At  one  time,  the  surface  of  the  earth 
was,  for  a  few  feet,  completely  illuminated.  After  watching 
them  for  a  long  time,  until  the  eye  was  completely  wearied,  I 
laid  down,  when  I  noticed  that  the  lights  were  more  visible 
than  when  I  stood  up,  which  might  arise  from  their  being  so 
near  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  my  seeing  under  them. 

In  returning  again  through  the  same  forest,  I  had  another 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  Ignis  Fatuus  in  the  same  place.  It 
was  then  a  beautiful  moonlight  night ;  but,  from  the  denseness 
of  the  forest,  little  benefit  was  derived  from  its  rays.  In  this 
instance,  there  were  two  lights  seen  hovering  over  the  river,  at 
about  two  feet  from  its  surface.  They  were  nearly  stationary, 
and  shone  so  brightly,  that,  although  the  natives  were  engaged 
in  fishing  with  lighted  brands,  they  were  not  eclipsed.  In  that 
neighbourhood  there  are  many  large  kauri  pines,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  decomposed  remains  of  these  highly  resi- 
nous trees  have  had  something  to  do  with  this  phenomenon. 
The  Fens  of  Ely  and  Lincoln,  were  formerly  notorious  for 
their  unwholsome  fogs  and  miasma,  as  well  as  for  the  frequent 
appearance  of  the  Ignis  Fatuus,  which  might  be  seen  in  all 
directions  every  dark  night.  Of  late  years,  it  has  been  more 
rarely  observed,  and  during  the  time  I  held  a  curacy  in  the 
heart  of  the  Fens,*  a  period  of  more  than  five  years,  I  only 
noticed  it  twice. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  a  dark,  rainy  night,  in  returning 
home  from  a  distant  church  in  the  Fens,  I  had  an  opportimity 
of  seeing  this  singular  light.  At  first,  I  took  it  for  a  man  with 
a  lantern,  and  being  anxious  to  share  the  benefit  of  it,  as  well 
as  to  gain  a  companion,  I  quickened  my  step,  to  get  up  with 
him,  walking  through  thick  and  thin — for  the  road  was  deep 
in  mud  ;  but  I  got  no  nearer:  the  light  still  kept  at  the 
same  distance  from  mc.  I  therefore  stood  still,  and  listened 
whether  I  could  hear  any  footsteps,  and  was  then  surprised 
to  see  the  light  dancing  about,  from  one  side  of  the  road  to 
the  other :  sometimes  sinking  to  the  level  of  the  earth,  and 
*  Coveney  and  Manea,  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  a  complete  Missionary  post. 


428  NATURAL  HlfirrORY. 

then  rising  to  a  height  of  eight  or  ten  feet.  It  was  then 
evident  that  it  was  the  Ignis  Fatuus.  Anxious  to  examine  it 
more  closely,  I  stood  still.  In  a  little  time,  the  light  seemed 
to  approach ;  it  then  gradually  increased  in  size,  and  appeared 
and  disappeared  every  instant.  Its  quivering  and  vibratory 
motion  most  resembled  that  of  a  sheet  of  gold  leaf.  In 
a  little  time,  it  divided  itself  into  two  parts,  one  remaining  on 
one  side  of  the  road  (which  was  bordered  with  broad  ditches), 
the  other  on  the  opposite  side,  leaving  a  thin  streak  of  light 
between,  and  then  uniting  again  in  a  moment. 

At  last,  it  approached  so  near  that  it  appeared  almost  equal 
in  size  to  the  full  moon,  having  a  globular  form,  and  emitting 
a  light  sufficiently  bright  to  render  a  gate  which  stood  near 
perfectly  visible.  It  advanced  so  rapidly,  that  it  was  rather 
startling,  and  distinctly  touched  my  cheek,  upon  which  I 
perceived  a  sensible  glow ;  but  my  breath  seemed  to  make  it 
bound  away  again  to  a  considerable  distance. 

It  appears  probable  that  the  Ignis  Fatuus  is  simply  a  lumi- 
nous air,  or  phosphoric  light,  arising  from  the  oily  particles  of 
decomposed  aquatic  plants,  floating  on  the  surface  of  the 
drains,  and,  that  it  is  so  feeble  as  only  to  be  visible  on  the 
darkest  and  dampest  nights;  or  from  the  gas  of  the  many 
resinous  pine  trees  which  once  grew  there,  and  whose  remains 
still  lie  buried  in  the  peat.  Several  kinds  of  decayed  wood 
acquire  this  phosphorescent  appearance,  especially  if  they  are 
buried  in  wet  situations.  Portions  of  such  matter  in  the  dark, 
appear  like  a  mass  of  pale  flame. 

I  well  remember  a  story  of  a  lad  in  the  Fens,  who  was 
sent  to  milk  the  cows :  as  he  was  returning,  he  saw  "  Will 
o'  the  Wisp,"  as  it  is  commonly  called,  which  he  took  for  some 
supernatural  face,  staring  at  him.  He  was  so  alarmed  that 
he  laid  himself  down  with  his  face  to  the  ground,  where  he 
remained  for  some  time.  At  last,  venturing  to  look  up,  and 
finding  the  dreaded  form  had  disappeared,  he  ran  home,  leaving 
his  milk  pails  behind  him. 

I  have  only  once  heard  of  this  light  settling  fixedly  on  any 
object.  The  Rector  of  Coveney  was  driving  home  one  dark 
rainy  night  from  Ely,  when  he  saw  a  light  on  the  other  side  of 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  429 

the  hedge,  which  he  thought  at  first  proceeded  from  a  lantern, 
but  it  immediately  came  and  attached  itself  to  the  ears  of  his 
horse,  in  the  form  of  two  globules,  where  it  remained  for 
several  minutes.  The  Lights  of  St.  Helme,  or  corpus  sanctum^ 
commonly  called  by  sailors  cormazants,  a  blue  flame,  like  that 
of  a  candle,  seen  at  the  mast  head,  generally  during  a  storm, 
or  soon  after  it,  are  frequently  observed  at  sea.  The  Master  of 
the  brig  Venture,  of  Wanganui,  noticed  as  many  as  five  lumi- 
nous balls  at  once,  settling  on  different  parts  of  the  rigging. 
The  mate  was  bold  enough  to  climb  up,  and  touch  them ;  he 
said,  they  were  merely  luminous  bubbles,  which  burst  when 
touched,  and  the  lights  were  immediately  extinguished.  These 
marine  lights  most  probably  arise  from  the  decomposed  re- 
mains of  fish,  raised  to  the  surface  by  the  violent  motion  of 
the  water  in  storms.  In  the  same  way  at  Kaitaia,  lights  were 
observed  hovering  over  the  graves  of  several  recently  interred 
corpses. 


ISfE   lEPE  -  CALLORYN't-HUt  ACmALll. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The  botany  of  New  Zealand  is  extremely  interesting,  not 
so  much  for  the  beauty  of  its  flora,  as  on  account  of  the  fact, 
that  it  has  a  peculiar  and  distinctive  character,  which  marks  it 
as  being  a  centre  of  its  own. 

This  was  noticed  by  the  earliest  explorers,  and  tends  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  conjecture,  which  I  have  hazarded  in 
treating  of  the  geological  features  of  the  country;  and,  al- 
though it  is  true  eighty-nine  South  American  species  of  plants 
have  been  discovered  in  New  Zealand,  and  that  seventy-seven 
are  found  in  Australia  and  South  America,  fifty  of  which  are 
common  also  to  Europe,  and  that  aixly  plants  of  the  whole 
flora  are  European  ;  still,  the  fact  that  there  are  twenty-six 


BOTANY.  431 

genera  and  five  hundred  and  seven  species,  which  is  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  whole,  peculiar  to  New  Zealand,  must 
establish  the  claim  to  its  having  a  botanic  centre  of  its  own.* 

Allowing  New  Zealand  to  be  the  remains  of  a  grand  conti- 
nental line,  we  may  naturally  expect  that  many  of  its  plants 
would  have  a  wide  range,  and  be  found  in  distant  localities. 
Indeed,  there  are  many  reasons  to  suppose  that  the  innumer- 
able isles  of  the  great  Pacific  are  but  the  peaks  of  a  submerged 
continent,  which  may  have  approached  America  on  one  side, 
and  Australia  on  the  other*  A  remarkable  circumstance  is, 
that  the  plants  of  the  antarctic  islands,  which  are  equally 
natives  of  New  Zealand,  Tasmania,  and  Australia,  are  almost 
invariably  found  only  on  the  lofty  mountains  of  those  countries. 
The  fact  also  that  both  the  New  Zealand  line,  and  the  grand 
continental  one  of  South  America,  are  still  being  upheaved, 
tends  to  prove,  that  the  causes  which  submerged  the  supposed 
continent  are  still  in  operation,  and  are  continuing  to  deepen 
the  ocean  bed  between  them,  in  the  same  ratio  that  the 
respective  sides  are  being  raised. 

The  subject  of  the  distribution  of  plants  over  the  most 
widely  separated  regions  of  the  globe,  is  one  of  deep  interest, 
and  tends  most  clearly  to  establish  the  fact  of  unity  of  design 
and  operation  in  the  works  of  the  Creator.     The  remarkable 
resemblance  of  plants  in  similar  latitudes  with  those  at  dif- 
ferent elevations  on  mountains,  is  another  interesting  subject 
of  enquiry,  and  a  corroboration  of  the  grand  unity  of  the  whole. 
A  most  remarkable  instance  of  this  is  found  in  the  Lycopodium 
cernuum,  (a  widely  distributed  Fern  in  all  warm  climates,)  it  | 
only  grows  in  the  Azores,  around  some  hot  springs;  it  has  also  ] 
been  collected  in  St.  Paul's  Island  (lat.  38°  S.),  there,  too,  \ 
only  by  the  side  of  similar  springs.     These  facts  are  most  t 
remarkable,  for  the  Lycopodium  cernuum  does  not  inhabit 
Madeira  or  any  spot  in  the  Azores,  except  the  vicinity  of 
the  hot  springs ;  and  St.  Paul's  Island  is  also  far  beyond  its 
natural  isothermal  in  that  longitude  of  the  southern  hemis- 
phere.   It  is  also  to  be  remarked,  that  in  neither  island  is  the 

*  The  magnetic  centres  now  found  to  exist,  may  have  a  mysterious  connection 
with  the  formation  of  botanic  centres 


432  BOTANY. 

Lycopodium  accompanied  bj  any  other  tropical  plant|  which 
would  indicate  the  aerial  transport  of  larger  objects  than  the 
microscopic  spores  of  the  Lycopodia.'^ 

The  way  plants  have  been  dispersed  is  another  interesting 
subject  of  enquiry.    That  minute  spores  of  fungi  are  carried 
in  the  air  to  immense  distances,  is  now  an  established  fact. 
Professor  Ehrenberg  found  the  spores  of  fungi  mingled  with . 
atmospheric  dust  that  had  fallen  on  ships  far  out  at  sea.  / 

That  seeds  are  drifted  by  currents  to  great  distances  is  also 
well  known.  American  seeds  are  thus  cast  on  the  shores  of  Bri- 
tain ;  and  if  those  of  considerable  size  are  often  thus  conveyed, 
we  may  reasonably  suppose  others  more  minute  would  be  so 
to  a  far  greater  extent.  When  resident  in  New  South  Wales, 
I  could  not  help  noticing,  that  the  Australian  coast  flora  was 
totally  different  from  that  of  the  interior,  and  far  more 
abundant,  and  this  also  holds  good  with  New  Zealand.  In 
Australia,  the  cedar  is  only  found  along  the  coasts,  and  not  far 
inland ;  so  likewise  with  the  kauri  in  New  Zealand. 

The  fact  also  of  the  earth  being  filled  with  seed  which 
retains  its  vitality  for  many  ages,  is  also  remarkable.  I  have 
noticed  where  lofty  cliffs  have  fallen,  and  disclosed  various 
ancient  levels,  that  after  a  short  time,  the  exposed  vein  of 
ancient  vegetable  mould  has  become  covered  with  a  vegetation 
of  its  own ;  so  likewise  when  a  portion  of  forest  has  been 
cleared  and  burnt  off  the  ground,  if  suffered  to  remain  un- 
cultivated, is  speedily  occupied  by  the  Poroporo,  an  edible 
solaniim.  I  observed  a  similar  thing  in  Australia :  where  the 
eucalyptus  forest  has  been  burnt,  it  is  succeeded  by  the 
mimosa ;  so  also  in  North  America,  the  primeeval  forests  are 
said  to  be  replaced  by  the  red  cedar. 

The  disappearing  and  reproducing  of  various  plants  in  the 
same  localities,  is  very  remarkable,  and  seems  to  depend  on 
certain  conditions  of  soil  and  circumstances ;  yet  it  is  doubtfiil 
whether  indigenous  plants  ever  disappear  from  their  proper 
localities.  When  the  spot  they  inhabit  becomes  possessed  by 
plants  or  trees  of  hostile  growth  to  the  original  inhabitants, 

*  See  Dr.  Hooker's  admirable  Introductory  Essay  to  the  flora  of  New 
Zealand,  pp.  xx.  Si  xxx. 


BOTANY.  433 

they  certainly  do  appear  to  die  away  and  be  lost,  but  when  a 
more  favourable  state  returns,  they  are  then  again  resuscitated, 
as  in  the  instances  alluded  to,  and  thus  cannot  be  said  to  become 
extinct.*  This  is  not  the  case  with  artificially  raised  flowers ; 
the  horticulturalist  well  knows  that  every  flower  he  raises, 
however  luxuriantly  it  may  grow  the  first  year,  will  seldom 
last  more  than  three  seasons  in  the  same  locality,  and  soon 
disappears.  This  fact  tends  to  prove  that  plants,  like  animals, 
have  their  proper  habitations  assigned  them,  and  with  few 
exceptions,  they  will  not  permanently  flourish  beyond  them. 
Man,  with  his  attendants,  the  dog,  the  cat,  the  rat,  &c.,  may  be 
styled  denizens  of  the  world ;  so  some  plants  also,  such  as  the 
dock,  the  clover,  chick-weed,  plaintain,  &c.,  are  carried  where- 
ever  man  goes,  and  soon  so  greatly  flourish,  that  in  a  few  years 
it  becomes  almost  impossible  to  say  they  have  been  intro* 
duced;  these,  however,  are  exceptions,  and  we  cannot  but  con- 
clude that  New  Zealand,  embracing  the  Auckland,  Chatham, 
Macquarie,  and  a  few  other  islands,  forms  a  botanic  centre  as 
well  as  Australia,  and  other  continents;  the  characteristic 
feature  of  the  New  Zealand  forest  being  a  dark  glossy  green,  is 
a  remarkable  contrast  to  the  glaucous  color  of  the  Australian. 

The  number  of  species  of  plants  already  known  in  New 
Zealand,  is  six  hundred  and  thirty-two,  of  which  three 
hundred  and  fourteen  are  dicotyledonous  or  endogenous 
plants,  and  the  rest,  or  three  hundred  and  eighteen,  are 
monocotyledonous  and  cellular  plants. 

To  what  can  this  remarkable  disproportion  be  due — so 
contrary  from  what  is  the  case  in  other  countries.  We  can 
only  regard  it  as  a  proof,  coupled  with  the  total  absence  of 
animals,  and  the  former  existence  of  a  large  number  of  wing- 
less birds,  that  it  has  from  most  ancient  times  been  cut  off 
from  other  parts,  and  thus  retained  its  primaeval  flora :  it  is 
still  in  its  fern  age. 

*  The  same  plants  do  not  grow  on  cleared  land  that  formerly  occupied  the 
same  spot  when  it  was  coyered  with  forest  trees;  a  dbtinct  class  of  vegetation 
makes  its  appearance  as  soon  as  the  fire  has  passed  oyer  the  ground.  The 
same  thing  may  be  remarked  with  regard  to  the  change  that  takes  place  among 
our  forests;  as  one  generation  falls  and  decays,  new  ones  of  a  different 
character  spring  up  in  their  places. — See  Bcusk-woodt  of  Canada,  page  173. 

F  F 


434  BOTANY. 

The  emigrant  from  the  flowery  fields  of  Britain,  cannot  fail 
being  struck  with  the  nearly  total  want  of  these  enlivening 
adjuncts  to  the  landscape,  when  he  first  steps  forth  on  those 
antipodal  shores ;  the  interminable  plains  of  sombre  fern,  will 
at  first  present  an  unfavourable  contrast  to  his  native  land. 
Excepting  the  palm,  dracenas,  and  fern,  there  is  little  striking 
in  the  New  Zealand  landscape.  There  are  few  annual  and 
flowering  plants,  and  of  those  only  a  very  few  which  possess 
vivid  colors ;  in  their  place  are  to  be  seen  a  great  number  of 
trees  and  ferns,  but  it  is  these  which  give  the  distinguishing 
feature  to  the  vegetation. 

In  England,  there  are  not  more  than  thirty-five  native  trees 
out  of  1400  species.  In  New  Zealand,  of  flowering  trees, 
including  shrubs  above  twenty  feet  high,  there  are  upwards  of 

113,  or  nearly  one-sixth  of  the  flora,  besides  156  shrubs  and 
plants  with  woody  stems.  The  number  of  trees,  the  paucity 
of  herbaceous  plants,  and  the  almost  total  absence  of  annuals, 
are  amongst  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  flora. 

Dr.  Hooker  thinks  that  the  conifera  will  prove,  when  known, 
to  be  the  most  universally  prevalent  natural  family. 

The  plants  number  730.     The  ferns  (including  lycopodia) 

114,  but  the  mosses  and  hepaticae  450;  and  the  same  enter- 
prising botanist  expresses  his  opinion  that  the  fungi  also 
will  be  found  to  number  more  than  1000  species.  The 
algse  enumerated  by  Dr.  Harvey,  are  nearly  300  species, 
which  have  from  their  beauty  and  singularity  long  been 
objects  of  great  interest  to  the  botanist.  Thus  the  total 
number  of  species  according  to  Dr.  Hooker  is  2000 :  and  the 
orders  most  numerous  in  species  are  compositas,  90 ;  cypera- 
ceae,  66 ;  graminess,  53 ;  scrophulariness,  40 ;  orchideee,  S9 ; 
rubiacese,  26 ;  epacridese  and  umbellifera,  each  23 ;  none  of 
which  can  be  said  to  form  prevalent  features  in  the  landscape, 
though  none  are  rare. 

The  most  tropical  of  all  the  New  Zealand  trees  is  the  mkau 
{areca  sapida.)  The  family  of  the  PahncB  has  only  this  re- 
presentative ;  it  is  a  most  graceful  and  beautiful  tree ;  it  often 
attains  the  height  of  forty  feet  and  a  foot  in  diameter,  the 
flower  forms  a  large  droop  of  a  flesh  color,  not  much  unlike  a 


BOTANY.  435 

cauliflower,  which  is  succeeded  by  a  bunch  of  red  berries. 
The  pinnate  leaf  is  of  large  size,  and  is  used  in  lining  the 
inside  of  the  roof;  the  natives  plait  it  very  neatly ;  the 
tender  shoot  is  eaten ;  it  tastes  somewhat  like  a  nut.  The 
stem  is  of  a  dark  clear  green  color,  and  at  every  four  inches 
there  is  a  ring,  which  marks  its  age.  It  is  only  found  in  the 
dense  forest. 

The  nearly  allied  asphodelacess,  have  more  species,  and  give 
a  character  to  the  plain.  The  ti^  {cardeline  Australis,  or  dra^ 
cena  AtatraUs^)  is  found  throughout  the  island  in  great 
abundance,  excepting  on  the  interior  plains,  where  it  is 
seldom,  if  ever  seen.  Though  so  common,  it  has  a  very 
foreign  look,  and  until  it  begins  to  flower,  which  it  does  when 
about  eight  years  old,  there  are  no  branches ;  afterwards  every 
year  adds  to  them,  and  the  older  it  becomes,  the  more  they  are 
increased ;  it  eventually  becomes  a  very  large  tree  of  several 
feet  in  diameter,  but  of  no  use,  as  the  trunk  is  composed  of  a 
mass  of  loose  fibres ;  the  leaf  is  that  of  a  flag ;  the  flower 
forms  a  large  droop,  and  is  very  fragrant.  The  root  of  the 
young  tree  is  eaten ;  when  cooked  it  contains  much  saccharine 
matter;  it  is  then  called  mauku.  The  tender  shoot  also  is 
edible,  though  rather  bitter.  The  missionaries  brewed  good 
beer  from  the  baked  root. 

The  turuki  {cordyline  stricta)  is  a  tree  only  diflering  from 
the  ti  in  having  a  narrower  leaf;  it  grows  in  forests,  and  is 
also  called  ti  ngahere :  it  has  a  strong  fibre. 

Toi  (dracena  indivisa).  The  fibre  of  this  tree  is  remark- 
ably strong  and  durable ;  the  natives  use  it  in  the  manufacture 
of  rough  mats.  It  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  rope,  as  it  does 
not  contract  in  water  like  the  phormium  tenax.  The  root  is 
eaten;  when  cooked  it  is  called  kauru^  and  is  very  full  of 
saccharine  matter.  The  leaf  is  remarkably  long  and  broad, 
and  the  flower  is  extremely  fragrant. 

Harakeke  {phormium  tenax).  This  plant  is  well  known,  but 
not  yet  so  much  as  it  deserves,  for  although  it  has  gained  much 
celebrity  from  the  fine  mats  made  of  it  by  the  natives,  and 
also  for  the  strength  of  its  fibre  in  the  manufacture  of  rope, 
it  will,  I  am  persuaded,  soon  be  better  known  as  a  substitute 

F  f2 


436  BOTANY. 

for  rags  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  for  which  purpose  it  is 
admirably  adapted.  The  flax,  when  immersed  in  a  solution.of 
alum,  is  readily  converted  into  a  pulp,  and  for  this  purpoise, 
the  simple  leaves  being  cut  and  dried  in  their  raw  state,  would 
be  all  that  is  required,  and  the  material  might  thus  be  obtained 
at  a  nominal  price,  since  it  grows  spontaneously  over  the 
country. 

The  flower  stalk  is  called  korari ;  the  flowers  are  filled  with 
honey,  and  in  such  quantities,  that  the  natives  collect  it  in 
calabashes.  Between  the  leaves  there  is  a  gelatinous  substance, 
which,  when  dried,  is  insoluble  in  water,  and  might,  perhaps, 
be  used  as  a  cement  for  china^  and  rendering  cloth  water  proof; 
the  natives  use  it  as  a  substitute  for  sealing  wax.  The  juice 
of  the  root  is  also  used  medicinally.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  this  valuable  plant. 

The  Rengarengay  marowarakihi,  {arthropodium  cirrhaium,) 
commonly  called  a  lily;  it  is  a  pretty  flowering  plant;  the  root 
formeriy  was  eaten. 

Rengarenga  iti  {arthropodium  candidum),  is  a  diminutive 
variety  of  the  former. 

The  Kareao.  Fam.  Similaceae  {ripogonum  parvifloruni),  is  a 
supple-jack  which  climbs  to  the  top  of  the  highest  trees,  and 
so  mats  them  together,  that  it  renders  the  forest  impassable, 
except  where  a  path  has  been  cut ;  the  plant  is  used  for  binding 
fences,  and  in  building  houses;  it  has  a  fragrant  flower,  and 
bears  bunches  of  red  berries,  upon  which  the  pigeon  feeds. 

Fam.  Iridc€e.   The  genus  libertia  has  three  species — grandi 
flora^  ixioides,  and  micrantha. 

The  Rurutu  is  a  red  flag-leafed  plant  growing  on  grassy 
plains,  and  bearing  a  white  three-leafed  flower. 

Fam.  OrchidetB.  Of  the  terrestrial  orchideiB  are — (thelymiira 
Forsteri,  orthoceras  strictum,  microtis  banksii,  acianthus  rivu^ 
laris,  pterostyUs  banksii,  gastrodia  sesamoides).  The  maikaiia 
is  the  common  name  for  all  these.  A  flne  green  and  white  one 
abounds  in  woods  and  swampy  plains ;  a  small  red  one  also  in  the 
marshy  spots  of  the  interior.  The  perei,  a  large  kind,  is  found 
in  the  woods,  it  produces  tubers  of  considerable  size,  which  are 
eaten.   A  beautiful  one,  with  a  heart-shaped  leaf,  is  also  found 


BOTANY.  437 

in  caves  and  damp  localities ;  it  bears  a  fine  dark  crimson  or 
purple  flower.  As  epiphytm  on  trees  grow  {Earina  mucronata). 
The  dendrobitim  Cunninghamii  is  a  remarkable  pendulous  one. 
The  bolbophyllum  pygmeum  is  also  of  a  similar  character; 
they  are  fragrant  and  a  great  ornament  to  the  forest. 

Amongst  the  climbing  plants  which  cling  to  trees  for  sup- 
port,  the  most  remarkable  is  the  freycinetia  Banksiif  a  monoco- 
tyledononous  plants  belonging  to  the  family  of  the  pandaruicea. 
It  chiefly  attaches  itself  to  the  kahikatea.  It  bears  a  white 
flower ;  the  bractess  of  its  blossoms  are  thick  and  fleshy,  and 
when  ripe  are  very  sweet,  with  a  flavor  not  unlike  a  luscious 
pear.  It  flowers  in  spring  or  September,  and  the  fruit  be- 
comes ripe  in  autumn,  which  is  in  Maith  and  April. 

Of  the  Piperacem. — There  are  two  kinds,  peperomia  urvU- 
lianae,  and  the  kawakawa  (piper  excehumj,  the  representative 
of  the  piper  methislicum,  of  the  Sandwich  and  Tonga  Isles.  It 
is  only  used  in  New  Zealand  medicinally  by  the  natives,  who 
chew  the  root  as  a  remedy  for  tooth -ache.  The  settlers  use 
the  leaf  as  tea,  and  also  make  a  very  palatable  beer  from 
it.  The  green  fruit  much  resembles  the  Jamaica  long 
pepper,  and,  when  ripe,  it  has  a  rich  luscious  flavor.  It  is  a 
delicate  plant,  and  seldom  seen  in  the  forest,  at  a  distance  from 
the  abodes  of  men ;  the  natives  say  they  brought  it  with  them. 
If  a  branch  of  the  kawakawa  were  laid  in  the  marae,  or  public 
square,  it  was  regarded  as  an  aitua,  or  omen  of  death. 

Fam.  WinteracecB. — Horopito  (drimis  axillaris).  This  is 
also  a  pepper  tree,  and  a  much  more  pungent  one  than  the 
former ;  it  abounds  in  the  interior,  but  is  not  found  in  the 
north  part  of  the  island. 

Fam.  ConiferacecB. — Kauri  (damaraAustralis).  This  beau- 
tiful pine  is  not  found  south  of  Kawia,  on  the  western  coast, 
and  the  Bay  of  Plenty  on  the  eastern.  Like  the  cedar  of 
Australia,  it  is  confined  to  the  vicinity  of  the  sea ;  it  loves  low 
sheltered  localities,  and  a  wet  pipe-clay  soil.  The  kauri  forest 
forms  a  very  deep  deposit  of  turfy  soil,  which,  being  inter-* 
mingled  with  much  resinous  matter  when  dry,  bums  with 
great  facility.  This  tree  produces  large  quantities  of  resin, 
which  is  now  eagerly  sought  after  as  an  article  of  trade,  being 


438  BOTANY. 

chiefly  used  in  England  instead  of  size  for  glazing  calico; 
but  in  the  United  States  it  forms  a  substitute  for  gum  copal 
in  making  yamish,  and  has  been  much  sought  after  bj  that 
enterprising  people  for  this  purpose.  This  resin  being  found 
in  almost  all  the  coal  measures/  indicates  great  antiquity,  as 
its  remains  are  seen  as  far  south  as  Stewart's  Island ;  thus,  the 
surviving  forests  of  this  noble  pine,  now  confined  to  an  insig* 
nificant  region,  the  same  as  that  growing  on  the  Isle  of  Pines, 
indicate  their  having  once  had  a  far  more  widely  extended 
growth  at  some  remote  period.  The  cone  of  this  tree  is  nearly 
round,  and  when  dry  falls  to  pieces  ;  some  attain  a  height  of 
nearly  two  hundred  feet,  and  a  girth  of  forty,  with  a  clear  stem, 
rising  like  a  tower  to  nearly  a  hundred  feet  without  a  branch. 
The  kauri  resin,  when  it  first  exudes  from  the  tree,  is  of  a 
milky  color,  or  transparent  like  glass,  but  with  age  it  acquires 
a  yellow  hue,  and  that  which  is  found  on  the  sand  hills  is 
scarcely  to  be  distinguished  in  color,  brilliancy,  and  hardness 
from  amber.  The  largest  masses  are  found  in  marshes ;  fre- 
quently lumps  are  dug  up  in  such  localities  of  a  hundred 
pounds  weight.  The  kauri  resin,  if  put  iuto  strong  rectified 
spirits  of  ether  in  a  pulverised  state,  is  immediately  taken  up. 
With  the  spirit  of  turpentine  at  270^,  a  clear  yellow-tinged 
solution  is  obtained  ;  it  dissolves  pretty  well  with  linseed  oil 
if  boiled.  The  kauri  resin  has  been  sold  from  £80  to  £100 
per  ton.  Some  of  it  is  found  quite  soft  and  plastic,  from 
its  containing  a  larger  quantity  of  turpentine;  the  fresh  resin 
is  chewed  by  the  natives.  The  sap  of  this  tree  is  the  thickest 
on  the  shaded  side,  which  fronts  the  south;  it  is  there 
frequently  seven  inches  through.  The  timber  is  very  close 
grained,  and  durable ;  it  is  highly  prized  for  spars.  The  bark 
is  clear  of  plants,  which  generally  abound  on  most  trees  of 
the  forest ;  its  roots  form  a  kind  of  net-work  on  the  surface  of 
the  ground. 

Fam.  TaxacecB. — Toatoa  (podocarpus  asplenifoliusj.  This 
tree  chiefiy  grows  on  the  table  ground,  in  the  interior  of  the 
south  part  of  the  island,  where  it  is  found  in  large  clumps ;  it 
does  not  attain  any  great  size ;  the  bark  is  used  as  a  brown  dye. 

Tanekaha,  tawaiwai.—(Phyllocladu$  trichomarundes).   This 


BOTANY.  439 

beautiful  tree  is  found  on  the  sides  of  hills;  its  general 
height  is  seldom  more  than  fifty  feet.  The  bark  is  plain,  light 
colored,  and  ringed  every  six  inches,  forming  distinct  flakes  up 
to  the  branches  of  the  tree.  The  leaves  are  parsley  shaped, 
which  chiefly  distinguishes  it  from  the  toatoUi  which  are  flat 
and  oval  shaped.  The  wood  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
Cyprus,  it  is  lighter  and  closer  grained  than  the  kauri,  and 
very  fragrant ;  it  is  also  more  durable  when  exposed  to  wet. 
The  bark  is  much  used  to  form  a  black  and  brown  dye.  The 
tree  is  rarely  found  in  the  south,  but  in  the  north  is  very 
abundant. 

Miro  (podoearpus  ferruginea).  This  tree  bears  a  rather 
large  and  flattened  fruit,  of  a  bright  red  color,  and  very 
aromatic  flavor,  which  imparts  an  agreeable  taste  to  the  pigeon 
when  it  is  in  season.  It  closely  resembles  the  yew  in  its  leaf; 
the  wood  is  close  grained  and  durable ;  it  does  not  attain  any 
great  size  or  elevation ;  but  is,  however,  a  very  valuable  timber. 

Totara  {podoearpus  totara).  This  is  a  noble  tree,  and  very 
highly  prized  for  its  great  durability ;  it  rises  to  the  height  of 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  bark  has  the  appearance  of 
having  been  chopped  at  intervals;  it  is  tough  and  stringy,  and 
much  used  as  a  covering  for  houses.  Like  the  yew,  the  tree 
appears  to  be  detrimental  to  underwood,  and  generally  little 
is  found  growing  under  it.  The  totara  is  so  abundant  as  to 
form  forests  up  the  Manawatu,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  in- 
terior ;  in  general  the  contrary  is  the  case,  and  it  is  found 
scattered  and  intermingled  with  other  trees. 

The  wood  of  this  noble  pine  is  red,  hard,  and  durable,  but 
brittle ;  it  is  preferred  for  canoes,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to  see 
them  more  than  seventy  feet  long,  with  a  width  of  five  or  six 
feet,  formed  from  a  single  log.  The  roots  generally  stand  high 
out  of  the  ground,  and  cover  a  considerable  surface ;  in  the 
south,  this  is  by  far  the  most  valuable  tree  of  all. 

Kahikatea,  kahika,  koroL — {Podoearpus  exeelsus.)  This  tree 
is  generally  called  the  white  pine,  from  the  color  of  its  wood, 
although  there  is  a  variety  which  is  yellow,  harder,  and  more 
durable,  and  therefore  the  most  prized.  The  kahikatea  may 
be  considered  as  nearly  the  loftiest  tree  in  the  New  Zealand 


440  BOTANY. 

forest;  it  often  attains  a  height  of  little  less  than  two  bun« 
dred  feet,  and  in  that  respect  rivals  the  noble  kauri,  but  the 
general  appearance  is  not  ^^U  pleasing;  it  has  a  small  top,  and 
that  not  well  covered  with  leaves,  except  when  young,  it  then 
has  a  finer  foliage  and  a  pointed  top  like  the  fir  tree.  Swampy 
grounds  are  its  favourite  localities,  and  it  is  frequently  found 
growing  in  water.  In  many  parts  there  are  forests  solely  of 
this  tree,  especially  in  the  south.  In  the  north,  its  timber  is 
much  softer  and  far  more  perishable  than  in  the  south,  where 
it  is  chiefly  used  for  building;  though  so  soft,  it  is  of  extremely 
slow  growth.  I  have  known  young  trees  which  have  not  in* 
creased  more  than  one  inch  in  height  during  the  year.  This 
tree  bears  a  little  red  oval  berry,  with  the  seed  stuck  on  the 
top.  Every  other  year  the  crop  is  most  abundant,  and  it  is  a 
fruit  highly  prized  by  the  natives ;  it  is  sweet,  but  without 
flavour.  The  wood  in  general  vnll  not  last  more  than  twenty 
years,  it  then  almost  pulverises  with  the  touch ;  but  if  ex- 
posed to  the  air,  it  appears  to  be  as  durable  as  either  the 
rimu  or  kauri.  The  kahikatea  has  resin  in  its  heart,  which, 
when  burnt,  produces  a  disagreeable  smell ;  it  contains  much 
saccharine  matter,  which  is  found  in  lumps,  of  a  very  sweet  and 
bitter  taste.  The  wood  likewise  has  a  similar  quality ;  a  gum 
also  exudes  from  it.  An  infusion  of  the  wood  is  highly  tonic, 
and  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  found  valuable  as  a  medicine 
when  better  known. 

Matai,  mai,  {dacrydium  mai,)  a  tree  with  a  fine  thick  top 
and  leaf,  much  resembling  that  of  the  yew.  It  produces  a 
purple  berry  like  a  small  plum,  of  a  sweet,  fragrant,  though 
slimy  taste.  The  wood  is  of  a  slightly  reddish  color,  close 
grained,  but  brittle,  and  peculiarly  fragrant  when  burnt.  It 
is  highly  prized  as  fuel,  and  also  much  used  for  furniture,  as 
it  works  up  very  easily,  and  comes  next  to  the  totara  in  dura- 
bility. The  resin  from  this  tree  is  very  aromatic.  It  chiefly 
abounds  in  the  interior,  and  there  attains  a  height  of  about 
a  hundred  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  four. 

Kawaka,  koaka,  (dacrydium  plumosum.)  This  tree  grows 
in  large  quantities  on  the  central  plains ;  the  wood  is  of  a  very 
dark  red  grain,  and  is  said  to  be  as  durable  as  the  totara^  Tbe 


BOTANY.  441 

0 

tree  has  a  remarkable  foliage,  which  makes  it  conspicuous  in 
the  forest,  but  it  is  generally  found  on  the  outskirts  fronting 
the  plains ;  its  height  is  seldom  much  above  sixty  feet. 

Mimu,  (dacrydium  cupressinum.)  This  is  one  of  the  greatest 
ornaments  of  the  New  Zealand  forest ;  its  beautiful  light  green 
foliage  hangs  down  in  graceful  festoons.  The  fruit  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  kahikatea.  The  wood  is  red,  streaked 
with  dark  lines,  and  is  much  prized  for  furniture  and  house 
building.  It  is  known  as  the  red  pine,  and  is  a  hard  and  heavy 
timber,  but  rather  brittle.  It  produces  a  resin,  which  is  also 
slightly  sweet  and  bitter,  and,  if  wounded,  emits  a  black  bitter 
gum ;  the  fragrance  of  the  wood,  when  burnt  as  fuel,  is  ex- 
tremely pleasant.  It  attains  a  great  elevation,  and  is  one  of 
the  highest  trees  of  the  forest.  Young  plants  are  rarely  met 
with ;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  if  planted  in  the  open  air, 
it  requires  shelter,  as  it  cannot  stand  the  cold  of  winter,  except 
it  has  the  canopy  of  a  dense  forest ;  and  this  remark  applies 
to  the  palm  and  several  other  forest  trees. 

In  addition  to  these  pines,  there  is  another  in  the  north 
near  ICaitaia,  called  hutu^  (phylloclddus  hutUj)  which  has  a  fine 
red-grained  timber,  the  most  nearly  resembling  the  Australian 
cedar ;  and  on  the  sides  of  the  Tongariro  mountain,  there  are 
two  dwarf  dacrydiums^  closely  resembling  the  rimu  and  kahi" 
katea:  they  form  low  bushes,  from  six  inches  to  two  feet  in 
height,  which  produce  much  finer  and  larger  fruit  than  their 
loftier  relatives  in  the  forest.  On  the  Tongariro  and  Tara- 
naki  mountains,  a  dwarf  podocarpus^  closely  resembling  the 
totara^  is  also  found,  and  when  the  alpine  regions  have  been 
more  folly  investigated,  it  is  not  improbable  other  members  of 
this  family  will  be  discovered. 

The  Fam.  of  the  Urticece — contains  the  ongoing a^  (urtica 
feroxj  a  shrub  about  twelve  feet  high,  having  a  large  and 
rather  long  pointed  leaf  of  a  dark  green,  thickly  studded  with 
formidable  yellow  spines,  which  make  those  who  touch  them 
take  care  not  to  repeat  the  experiment;  the  branches  are 
similarly  armed.  It  is  a  curious  but  ornamental  shrub ;  its 
wood  is  close  grained  and  hard.  In  the  north  there  is  a  tree 
called  the  onga  Ofiga,  (urtica  debilis^)  which  has  the  appearance 


442  BOTANY. 

of  a  lime.     The  natiyes  affirm  that  in  its  early  yeairs  it  is 
the  nettle  shrub. 

The  Fam.  l^oMoceee.— contains  micromeria  Cunninghamii, 
which  is  found  near  the  Wesleyan  settlement,  on  the  Hokianga. 

The  Fam.  Boraginacea. — {Anchusa  ipatuata  and  myosotis 
Fonterii.) 

The  Fam.  ContohulacecB. — Powiwiy  paraha,  (calystegia 
iepiumj  the  common  convolvolus ;  it  has  a  long  fleshy  root, 
which  was  formerly  eaten ;  the  flower  is  white  striped  with 
pink.  The  panahi,  {cahfstegia  soldanella,)  the  common  bind 
weed,  and  the  ipomoea  pendula. 

Fam.  LoganacecB. — Sangehange,  (geniostoma  UgustrifoUum). 

Fam.  Gentianacea. — {Gentiana saxosa,)  found  at  Dusky  Bay, 
and  on  the  Tongariro  ranges ;  it  bears  a  pale  bufl'-colored  flower 
and  dark  leaf.  The  gentiana  montana  is  also  found  in  the 
same  locality,  and  the  selxea  gracilis  at  Hokianga. 

Fam.  ApocynacecB. — {Parsonsia  heierophglla.) 

Fam.  OleacecB, — {Olea  apetela,)  a  tree  similar  to  the  iron  wood 
of  Norfolk  Island. 

Fam.  SapotacecB. — {Achras  costata), 

Fam.  MyrsinacecB, — Tipau,  mapau  {mt/rsine  urmlluB)^  (mffrsme 
divaricata),  found  at  Hokianga.  Karaka  {corynocarpus  km- 
goto).  This  noble  tree  resembles  the  English  laurel,  but 
attains  the  size  of  a  timber  tree.  The  leaf  is  large,  glos^, 
and  of  a  dark  green,  the  foot  stalk  is  purple,  the  flower  ia  cS 
a  greenish  white,  small,  and  in  clusters ;  the  fruit  is  not 
unlike  a  date,  and  from  two  to  three  inches  long.  It  has 
somewhat  the  flavour  of  the  apricot,  but  too  strong  to  be 
agreeable ;  it  is  called  kopi  and  korai;  the  kernel,  after  it  haa 
been  boiled  and  steeped  in  water  for  some  days,  is  eaten, 
otherwise  it  produces  madness,  and  relaxes  the  joints,  so  that 
they  will  bend  the  wrong  way.  The  wood  when  burnt  is 
peculiarly  ofiensive.  The  natives  state  that  this  tree  was 
brought  with  them. 

Of  the  extensive  American  Fam.JSpacrideiJB. — Ming*,  momom, 
{cyathodes  acerosa,)  a  shrub.  Patotara  {ietwcpogofifamculaiwi), 
a  diminutive  heath-like  shrub,  producing  a  very  fragrant  white 
flower,  and  a  small  transparent  edible  berry  of  an  orange  color; 


BOTANY.  443 

it  abounds  on  sandy  plains*  Leitcopogon  Fraseri^  peniachondra 
pumiia,  epacria  patwi  flora,  but  the  nene,  (dracophyllum  laiu 
Jblium,)  is  by  far  the  most  beautiful  of  this  family,  and  attains 
the  size  of  a  tree.  The  dracophyllum  longifolium  belongs  to 
the  Middle  Island,  as  also  the  dracophyllum  rosmarini/oliumf 
but  the  dracophyllum  urvillianum  and  lessonianum  belong  to 
the  North  Island.  Several  members  of  this  family  are  ex- 
tremely  ornamental,  and,  belonging  to  alpine  regions,  might 
be  introduced  into  England. 

Of  the  Ericew. — are  gaultheria  antipoda,  gauttheria  rupestria 
and  fluviatilia. 

Fam.  Campanulacew. — Rimuroa  [wahlenbergia  gracilis)  the 
blue-bell  of  New  Zealand. 

Fam.  Loheliacem. — Oru,  {lobelia  physaloides, — lobelia  alata, 
— angulata, — Uttoralis, — submera,)  The  kowitiwiti  and  puaur 
reroa  belong  to  this  family. 

The  Styllidea, — Stylidium  spathalatum  and  Forstera  sedi* 
foUa. 

The  Goodeniacew, — {Goodnenia  repens). 

Of  ComposiUse, — are  the  following  tribes  and  genera  :— 

Cichoraceay  parerarera  {scorzonera  scapigera).  This  grows 
on  the  central  plains  in  large  quantities.  Toitako,  kueo,  (pieris 
hieracioides,  attenuata,  sonchus  oleraceus).  Puwha,  {vemoni- 
aceis  Shawia). 

Fam.  Atteroidece. — Pekapeka  {soUdago  arborescens).  Papc^ 
tanifjoaniwa,  {Lagenopkora-Forsteri)  the  native  daisy,  {LagefUh- 
phora  lanatay  aster  holocericeus,  aster  coriaceus).  Ake  piro, 
(Hoxtoniafurfuracea),  a  pretty  shrub  with  daisy-like  flowers. 
(Fittadenia  Australis.)  Peke  peke,  (celmisia  holocericeus,)  a 
large  broad-ribbed  leafed  aster,  dark  green  on  one  side,  and 
white  downy  on  the  other,  growing  on  the  central  plains* 
Parerarera,  peka  peka,  {celmesia  coriacea),  a  smaller  kind, 
found  in  the  same  parts  as  the  former. 

Fam.  Senecionidacew, — Kohiriki  {Bidens  pilosa)  cotvhage 
{catula  coronopifoUa,  myriogyne  minuta,  soliva  tenella,  craspedia 
uniflora,  cassinia  leptophylla,  ozothamnus  ptnifoUa,  Helichry^ 
swm  belUdioides,  (Pukatea)  Gnaphalium  hiteoalbum, — simplex^ 
—  lanatum,  —  invohicraium,  —  keriense,  —  trinervw,  Arnica 


444  BOTANY. 

operina,  senecio  lautus, — AustraUs^ — negtectut^-^^argutut^ — 
quadridentatuSf — hispidulus. 

Of  RubiacecB  or  Cinchonacem, — Are  the  genera  {opercularia, 
diphylloy  asperd) — karamu  {coprosma  lucida). 

Hupiro  {coprosma  fcetidissima)^  a  small-leafed  shrub,  growing 
in  the  woods  on  the  central  plains,  emitting  a  very. foetid  smell, 
perceptible  in  passing  it,  and  especially  when  the  leaves  are 
rubbed. 

(  Coprosma  propinqua, — rotundifoUo — rhamnoides, — -graciUM 
— divaricata, — acerosa, — repens, — spathulata,  Ronabea  Aus- 
traliSy  nertera  depressa,  geophyla  dichondrmfolia.) 

Fam.  Zoranthacece,  or  Fiscum,  The  mistletoe  is  found  on 
several  trees,  it  is  parasitical  on  the  kahikatoa,  the  puriri^  the 
tawai,  the  tataka,  and  several  other  trees. 

The  Fuka,  {viscum  antarcticum,)  is  found  on  the  kahikatea 
and  the  pukatea;  it  bears  a  blue  berry.  Tirauriki,  {viscum 
pubigerium.)  Pirita  (viscum  salicomioides,)  It  grows  on  the 
ngaio,  tataka,  and  manuka  trees,  and  bears  a  transparent  edible 
berry.  The  most  beautiful  of  all  is  the  rore  rare,  {loranthut 
teirape talus,)  which  bears  a  very  fine  bright  scarlet  flower ;  it 
is  found  on  the  tawai,  {Batula  nigra.)  The  black  birch  or 
beech  tree. 

Fam.  Conece, — Gen.  alseuosmia. 

The  UmhellifercB — contain  Hydrocotyle  ehngata^ — micros 
phylla,  —  Nov€e  Zealandus, — dichondrcBfolia,  —  heteromeria, 
compacia, — moschata, — asiatica, — Petroselinum  prostratum, — 
Jiliformi.  Taramea,  papaki,  kueo,  {Ligusticum  aciphylla,)  a 
prickly  palmated  leafed  plant,  abounding  in  the  central  plains, 
having  an  edible  tap  root,  somewhat  like  a  carrot ;  the  com* 
mon  name  is  the  Wild  Irishman.  The  ergnginm  vesiculasum  is 
a  low  prickly  plant,  very  similar  in  appearance  to  a  diminutive 
thistle.  I  have  only  seen  it  at  the  Wanganui  Heads,  and  on 
the  coast  near  Taranaki. 

Ligusticum  gingidium,  Peucedanum  geniculatum,  Apium 
graveolens.  There  are  several  varieties  of  umbelliferous  plants 
growing  on  the  central  plains,  which  might  be  cultivated 
as  vegetables,  especially  a  white  carrot,  pinaihere.  A  variety 
of  the  taramea  is  found  on  the  Ruahine  and  the  Kaikoura 


BOTANY.  445 

mountains,  which  produces  a  resinous  balsamic  substance, 
highly  aromatic.  The  taniwanitoa,  or  aniseed,  also  grows 
abundantly  on  the  grassy  plains. 

Of  the  AraliacecB, — so  general  in  South  America,  several 
remarkable  representatives  are  found  in  New  Zealand. 

Panax  simplex.  Waupaku,  wauwaupaku  (panax  arboreum 
cussoniaLes8onii,Poly8cias  pinnata,)  Pate,  {Aralia  Schlejfflera,) 
Horoeka,  hohoeka  {araUa,  crassifolia).  A  tree  with  remarkable 
long  narrow  leaves,  nearly  two  feet  long,  and  not  above  an 
inch  or  so  wide.  In  its  early  state,  they  are  serrated,  but  as 
it  grows  older  they  become  smooth  and  considerably  shorter ; 
it  is  a  very  ornamental  tree ;  the  wood  is  close  grained,  heavy 
and  hard. 

Of  the  OxalidecB. — Tutaikaka  (  Oxalis  Urvillei  cataractw). 
A  white  sorrel  found  near  Kerikeri  Water-fall,  and  thence 
deriving  its  name;  in  several  parts  it  is  larger  in  size, 
{Propingua,  —  exilis,  —  divergens,  —  tenuicaulis,  lacicola,  — 
ciliifera,  —  crassifolia).  The  oxalis  which  flourishes  on  sand 
hills,  produces  the  largest  yellow  flower,  and  that  on  the  cold 
grassy  plains  the  least. 

GeranicacecB. — Huika  (Geranium  pihsum — reiorsum.  pe^ 
largonium  clandestinum). — Kaputawiti,  kurakura,porewarewa» 

HypericacecB. — {Hypericum  pusilhtm). 

Fam.  MeliacecB. — Kohekohe, — {Hartighsea  spectahilis).  This 
tree  attains  a  considerable  size ;  the  leaves  are  remarkably  bitter 
and  the  infusion  is  used  as  a  tonic  ;  a  weak  decoction  is  also 
used  by  females  who  have  lost  their  infants,  to  stop  the  secre- 
tion of  milk.  Its  flowers  come  out  from  the  stem,  and  are 
very  fragrant ;  the  sap-wood  is  perfectly  white,  but  the  heart 
is  of  a  dark  red,  and  very  similar  in  grain  and  color  to  maho- 
gany ;  it  attains  a  height  of  about  sixty  feet. 

Fam.  SapindacecB. — Topitopi,  titoki,  titongi  {alectryon  excels 
sum).  A  very  ornamental  tree,  with  a  glossy  light  green  leaf. 
The  fruit  is  also  very  beautiful,  it  bursts  from  its  sheath  like  a 
bright  red  strawberry,  with  a  shining  black  seed  in  the  centre ; 
the  fruit  is  tart,  though  edible,  and  from  the  seed  a  fine  oil  is 
expressed.  In  the  south,  the  fruit  is  called  titoki,  and  the 
tree  topitopi;  it  is  considered  a  durable  timber,   and  well 


446  BOTANY. 

adapted  for  ship-building.  Ake^  ake  rautangfi,  {Dodonma  91a- 
tulata).  This  tree  does  not  attain  any  size^  but  the  wood  is 
considered  the  hardest  and  toughest  in  New  Zealand  ;  it  was 
used  for  weapons  of  war. 

Fam.  BombacecB. — Hohere  {Hoheriapapulnea).  A  tree  with  a 
fine  net-like  fibre  under  the  bark ;  both  the  leaves,  bark,  and 
flowers,  which  are  white,  have  a  glutinous  taste,  like  the  mal- 
low ;  it  does  not  attain  any  size.  It  is  ornamental,  but  only 
medicinally  useful ;  the  leaves  of  the  young  shrub  are  different 
from  those  of  the  grown-up  tree.  The  aute  (ancient  cloth) 
was  formerly  made  from  the  inner  bark  of  this  tree  ;  it  is  still 
worn  as  ribbons. 

Fam.  Tilia€e(B. —  Wau  {entelea  arborescens).  The  wood  of  this 
tree  is  remarkably  light,  and  is  used  by  the  natives  instead  of 
cork  to  float  their  nets. 

Fam.  EUocarpacecB. — Sinau  {Eleocarpus  kinau).  A  fine 
tree,  with  a  bright  green  spiral  leaf;  the  bark  is  rough  and  un- 
sightly ;  it  attains  a  considerable  size  and  height.  The  wckmI 
is  of  a  beautiful  yellow  color ;  the  berries  are  made  into  bread  ; 
the  bark  is  remarkably  stringent,  it  is  used  as  a  brown  dye, 
and  by  inmiersing  the  articles  thus  colored  in  a  ferrugineous 
swamp,  it  is  turned  into  a  bright  and  durable  black. 

Mako,  makomako  {Friesia  racemosa).  This  is  a  beautiful 
tree,  bearing  bunches  of  fragrant  bell  flowers,  and  currant- 
shaped  berries,  which  are  eateti.  It  closely  resembles  the 
ribes  ;  the  leaves  are  reddish  and  transparent. 

Fam.  Slurculiace<B. — {Plagianthus), 

Fam.  MahacecB. — {Hibisctis  vesicarifis).  A  fine  plant  of  this 
family,  bearing  a  large  pink  fiower,  is  found  at  the  North 
Cape  ;  it  attains  a  height  of  nearly  a  yard.  Another  closely 
resembles  one  seen  in  our  gardens;  the  flower  is  of  a  light 
primrose  color,  with  a  very  dark  centre. 

Fam.  Linem, — Ririwa  {linum  monogynum).    It  grows  about 

two  feet  high,  and  bears  a  fine  white  fiower,  sometimes  edged 

with  blue,  and  occasionally  entirely  blue. 

Fam.  CaryophyllecB  vel  Alsinacea, — {Arenaria  media,  steU 
laria  media). 

Fam.  ElatinacecB. — {Elatine  gratioloides). 


BOTANY.  447 

Fam.  Pitto^i>orcLee(B»'^Tarata  {Pitiosparum  cnusifoUum). — 
An  ornamental  tree,  producing  turpentine ;  the  leaves  are 
fragrant. 

Tataka  (P —  undulatum  vel  umbeUatum).  It  is  also  a  resin- 
ous tree. 

TawiHi  kohukohu  (P —  tenuifolium,  P —  eugenioideSy  P — 
comifolium,  P —  rejlexum,  P —  penielioides,  P —  radicans.) 

VeLm.  DroseracecB. — Wahu  {Drocera  propinqua).  A  pretty 
little  fly-trap,  shield-shaped  leaf,  pink  flower,  red  bulb  root, 
sheathed  in  a  black  skin.  {Drocera  intermedia),  A  larger 
kind,  growing  in  wet  ground,  with  a  branch-shaped  leaf,  and 
white  flower. 

Fam.  Fiofarace^e. — Haka  (Erpetion  spathulata).  A  small 
white  violet ;  another  with  purple  stripes,  and  a  purple  one, 
are  found,  but  all  without  scent. 

Fam.  FlacourtiacecB. — Mahoe  {meUcytus  ramiflortu).  It  grows 
to  the  height  of  about  fifty  feet ;  the  wood  is  heavier  than  the 
fimuy  and  it  has  a  fine  thin  spiral  leaf.  {Melicytus  macrophyllus.) 

Fam.  CrucifercB, — Panapana  {nasturtium  syhestre).  A  small 
leafed  cress,  with  a  white  flower,  growing  in  the  woods.  {Car^ 
damine  debilis,  Alyssum  maritimum,  Lepidium  oleraceum). — 
The  hanea  is  a  larger  cress,  with  a  brownish  hairy  leaf,  and 
small  yellow  flowers  ;  it  grows  near  rivers,  and  attains  a  height 
of  about  eighteen  inches. 

The  naunau  has  a  thick  dark  glassy  leaf,  of  an  oval  form, 
and  bears  a  very  small  white  flower,  in  size  and  appearance  it 
resembles  the  wall-flower.     The  tawera  is  a  water-cress. 

Fam.  Ranunculacece. — (ranunculus  rivularis, — acaulis^  acris, 
— plebeius, — hirtus,)  Kaikaiarure.  The  common  butter-cup 
is  remarkable  for  the  great  irregularity  in  its  petals;  it 
may  be  found  with  either  one,  two,  or  three,  or  more,  up  to 
nine.  The  kopata  uraura^  is  a  very  large  and  beautiful  but- 
ter-cup, with  glossy  leaves,  found  in  pools  of  water  in  elevated 
parts  of  the  interior.  It  is  said  to  be  extremely  poisonous ; 
the  roots  are  thick  and  long,  almost  like  tubers. 

The  kowai  kura  is  also  a  large  kind,  with  downy  leaves ;  the 
flower  is  small  in  proportion  to  the  plant.  There  is  also  a 
pretty  kind  growing  in  swampy  ground. 


448  BOTANY. 

Fam.  Clematis.  ^Piki  arero,  pua  wananga,  a  clematis  beariog* 
a  large  white  scentless  flower. 

Ptiatautatia,  a  small  greenish  white  flowering  clematis,  very 
fragrant ;  it  is  chiefly  found  on  the  sand  hills  near  the  sea. 

Fam.  GrUelinecB. — {Griselinea). 

Fam.  Saxifrageie  vel  cunoniacece. —  {Quintina  serraia,  wein- 
mannia  betulinay—fuchsioid^s, — sylvicola), 

Towaiy  tawerUy  {Leiospemum  racemosum)  a  large  tree  ;  the 
wood  is  red  and  streaked  with  hlack ;  it  is  highly  valuable  for 
furniture.     Makamaka  (ackama  roscsfoliaj. 

Fam.  CrassulacecB. — (Tillaea), 

Fam.  Ficodea. — Eruerueka  {mesembryanthemum  Australe). 
There  are  two  kinds^  one  bearing  a  pink  the  other  a  white 
flower.  Bengarenga,  {Tetragona  expansa).  The  panamata, 
paraihia,  is  a  diminutive  kind  of  spinach,  with  a  very  dark  leaf. 

Fam.  CiicurhitacecB, — Mawai  {sicyos  Australis).  A  creeping 
plant,  resembling  the  cucumber. 

Fam.Passiflorace(B. —  Kohia,potviwi  {passiflora  tetranda).  It 
bears  a  small  green  and  orange  flower,  rather  fragrant,  and  a 
fruit  of  a  bright  orange  color;  an  oil  is  expressed  from  the  seeds. 

Fam.  HaloTogece. — Toatoa  (cercodia  erecta),  a  stiflT  growing 
weed,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  with  a  four-sided  stem, 
and  strong  serrated  leaf ;  it  is  used  medicinally  by  the  natives. 

Cercodia  alternifolia. — nicanay  goniccarpus  depressus, — te» 
tragynus.     Piri  piri, — citriodaruSy  myriophyllum  propivquunu 

Fam.  Onagracece.  KohuttihutUy  koiukutukUy  kohutukutuku 
(fuchsia  excorticata)y  a  large  tree,  frequently  near  three  feet 
in  diameter ;  it  takes  its  name  from  shedding  its  bark ;  this  is 
the  only  deciduous  tree  in  the  New  Zealand  forest.  The 
flowers  appear  before  the  leaves,  and  generally  from  the 
branches ;  they  are  at  first  of  a  greenish  blue  witi)  a  purple 
inside,  but  afterwards  change  to  a  bright  carmine ;  the  fruit 
is  edible.     Tot  era  (Fuchsia  procumbens.) 

Epilobium  nummularifoliumy — pedunculare,{kokota) —  micra^ 
phyllumy —  rotundifoliuniy — thymifoliumy —  alsinoides, — nerte^ 
rioidesy —  atriplicifoliumy — pubens, —  cinereuniy —  incanuniy — 
hirtigerumy —  virgatuniy — glabellum, — confer  tuniy  — pallidifh^ 
rum, — -junceumy — haloragifolium. 


BOTANY.  449 

MyrtacecB. — This  family^  although  less  numerous  in  genera, 
yet  possesses  some  of  a  very  general  distribution,  and  others 
which  form  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  useful  trees. 

Kahikatoa,  manuka,  {Leptospemum  scopiarum.)  This  is  a 
beautiful  tree,  the  leaf  is  small,  but  aromatic,  the  flowers  white, 
and  very  abundant ;  it  produces  both  flowers  and  fruit  when 
only  a  few  inches  high,  and  yet  attains  the  size  of  a  large 
timber-tree,  when  it  ceases  to  flower  and  seed  so  freely. — 
(Z — ericoides.) 

Aka,  (rnetroaideros  buadfolia,)  a  climbing  plant,  bearing  a 
beautiful  red  flower  ;  the  stem  is  very  strong  and  durable ;  it 
is  used  for  tying  up  fences,  and  the  timbers  of  houses ;  it  has  a 
myrtle-shaped  leaf.  A  variety  of  this  bears  a  white  flower. 
( — perforata). — Rata  ( —  rohusta).  This  also  bears  a  bright 
red  flower,  and  in  such  quantities  as  to  give  the  tree  the 
appearance  of  being  a  red  one  at  a  distance.  The  rata  is  at 
first  a  climber  ;  it  throws  out  feelers  or  tentacles,  by  which  it 
holds  on  to  the  tree  it  clings  to  ;  eventually  it  becomes  a  very 
large  timber-tree,  and  kills  the  kind  friend  of  its  early  days ; 
it  is  often  seen  clasping  the  dead  trunk  of  its  former  supporter 
after  it  has  rotted  away,  and  become  separated  from  the  ground, 
which  gives  it  a  very  singular  appearance*  The  rata  becomes 
a  noble  tree ;  its  aerial  roots  then  disappear,  and  it  overtops 
most  of  the  trees  of  the  forest ;  its  head  is  very  thick,  its  leaf 
like  the  myrtle,  but  not  so  pointed,  its  timber  is  very  hard, 
tough,  and  of  a  dark  red  ;  it  is  valuable  in  ship-building  and 
for  carts. 

Pohutukaua  (M —  tomentosaj.  This  is  a  very  ornamental 
tree ;  it  only  grows  in  the  north  end  of  the  island,  amongst 
the  rocky  cliffi  on  the  sea  shore  ;  its  leaves  are  large,  thick, 
of  greenish  blue  externally,  and  white  underneath.  It  is  not 
found  inland,  except  on  the  little  islands  in  the  central  lakes ; 
the  trunk  is  knarled,  and  twisted  in  every  direction,  the  wood 
is  extremely  hard,  and  of  a  dark  red ;  it  is  chiefly  used  for 
ships  and  knees  of  boats ;  it  is  fine  fuel,  and  so  generally  used 
for  this  purpose,  that  soon  this  chief  ornament  of  the  northern 
shores  of  New  Zealand  will  scarcely  be  met  with  ;  it  is  not 
found  further  south  than  a  few  miles  beyond  the  Mokau. 

o  G 


460  BOTANY. 

Rakapika  ( M-^Jlorida,  M  —  diffusa,  JIf—  luciday  M —  Ay- 
pericifoliaf  M —  salicifoliaj,  Mairetawaka,  maire,  {Engema 
maire),  A  fine  large  tree ;  the  timber  is  close  grained  and 
heavy  ;  it  is  considered  very  valuable  for  machinery,  and  can 
be  used  the  same  as  box-wood. 

Ramor-ramay  rohutu,  (mi/rtus  hullata)  •  The  myrtle ;  it  has 
a  fragrant  leaf,  and  a  very  pretty  white  flower ;  it  attains  the 
size  of  a  small  tree,  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  is  said  to  be 
common  to  the  Chilian  forests. 

Fam.  RosacecB, — PirikahUf  kaikaiaruri,  hutitvai,  (acatui 
8anguuorh(B).  A  low  creeping  bur,  which  sticks  to  the  gar- 
ments, as  the  name  implies.    It  is  called  Sine-nui-te-po's  hair* 

The  tutai  whioi  is  a  fine  scarlet  flowering  bur,  found  on 
the  central  plains. 

Tataramoa,  ( Ruhrus  Australis) .  The  New  Zealand  bramble 
or  raspberry ;  it  produces  an  orange-colored  fruit,  of  good 
flavor,  and  in  great  abundance,  which  the  pigeon  feeds  upon. 
This  plant  climbs  up  to  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees,  and 
frequently  has  a  stem  six  inches  in  diameter  ;  it  looks  like  an 
immense  rope  suspended  from  the  tops  of  the  trees,  and  lays 
coiled  in  large  folds  on  the  ground  ;  its  wood  is  used  for  any 
purpose  which  requires  flexibility.  {Rubrus  Schmidelioides — 
cissioides).  The  last  is  a  remarkable  bush ;  the  leaves  are 
extremely  small,  placed  at  the  ends  of  a  long  cruciform-shaped 
stalk,  covered  with  small  bright  yellow  spines.  I  have  never 
noticed  either  flower  or  fruit ;  the  bush  appears  at  first  sight 
to  have  no  leaves  at  all. 

Fam.  Leguminosce, — Kowai,  {Edwardsia  microphylla.)  This 
tree  attains  a  very  great  size  in  the  interior.  On  the  Rua- 
hine  range  I  noticed  it  as  large  and  lofty  a^  any  of  the  trees  in 
the  forest;  it  bears  a  bright  yellow  papilionaceous  flower, 
thick  and  short  in  early  spring,  which  gracefully  hangs  pendant 
from  the  slender  branches,  ( — grandiflora,  clianthus  puniceus^) 
Kowaingutukaka,  the  parrot's-bill  acacia,  from  the  resemblance 
its  bright  red  flowers  bear  to  it.  This  much  admired  shrub  is 
only  met  with  in  the  vicinity  of  old  pas,  and  it  is  not  impro- 
bable that  it  has  been  introduced.  I  received  an  account  of 
a  French  vessel,  which  was  captured  many  years  ago  in  the  Bay 


BOTANY.  451 

of  Islands ;  the  natives  emptied  many  of  the  boxes  on  a  small 
island  in  the  Kerikeri  River,  which  to  their  disappointment 
they  found  were  only  filled  with  seeds.  It  was  remarked  a  few 
years  afterwards  the  whole  island  was  covered  with  this  shrub ; 
its  beauty  attracted  attention ;  its  flowers  were  stuck  in  the  ear 
as  an  ornament,  the  seed  became  sought  after  and  was  carried 
to  every  part.  There  appears  some  probability  in  this  having 
been  the  case,  it  differs  so  widely  from  other  New  Zealand 
plants. 

{Guilandina  bonduc,)  maukorOi(carmichaeliaAustrali$,grise' 
linia  lucida,)  makaka  maukoro,  a  broom,  bearing  a  very  pretty 
white  flower  streaked  with  purple,  only  found  in  the  interior. 
Taunoka  is  the  common  broom ;  there  is  a  saying,  that  it  has 
no  heart,  and  a  bad  man  is  compared  to  it.  There  are  several 
varieties  of  the  broom,  but,  with  one  exception,  their  flowers 
are  insignificant. 

Fam.  Rhamneas. — Piripiri  wata,  {carpodettcs  serratus,)  it 
bears  a  small  white  flower,  and  is  found  near  Lake  Omapere. 

Pennantia  corymboaa,  Kumarahou,  {pomaderris  kumarahou,) 
a  pretty  shrub,  bearing  tufts  of  buff-colored  flowers,  only 
found  in  the  north  end  of  the  island.  Tauhinu,  ( — ericifolia,) 
a  shrub  also  peculiar  to  the  north,  bearing  an  insignificant 
white  flower.    To  this  family  also  belong  Corokia  and  Ixerba. 

Fam.  Coriariacece, — Tupakihi,  tutu,  Pukou,  {cariaria  sar- 
mentosa.)  This  is  a  remarkable  shrub  which  formerly  abounded 
in  every  part  of  the  island,  but  is  now  as  rapidly  disappearing, 
as  cattle  and  sheep  are  increasing.  It  produces  a  large  droop 
of  a  currant-like  fruit,  of  a  deep  purple  color,  with  seeds 
outside.  The  natives  express  the  juice  in  large  quantities, 
which  they  drink  with  impunity,  having  first  carefully  strained 
oflT  all  the  seeds  and  foot-stalks,  which  are  highly  poisonous ; 
they  also  boil  it  with  sea-weed,  and  eat  it  in  the  form  of  jelly. 
Sheep  and  cattle  are  extremely  fond  of  its  leaves.  The  young 
shoots  come  up  remarkably  strong,  tender,  and  succulent.  If 
fed  upon  the  first  thing  in  the  morning  with  an  empty  stomach, 
it  frequently  occasions  death,  but,  otherwise,  taken  with  grass, 
it  appears  to  be  as  nourishing  a  food  as  clover,  which  also 
produces   similar  effects.     It  is  remarked,  that  this   plant 

qq2 


452  BOTANY. 

makes  much  rich  vegetable  soil ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  never  found 
flourishing  on  bad  land.  It  attains  a  height  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  feet.  There  is  a  smaller  kind,  which  has  a  less  leaf, 
much  longer,  narrower,  and  more  pointed  in  proportion,  with 
a  larger  fruit,  less  highly  colored,  but  the  natives  do  not  eat  it, 
considering  it  more  dangerous  than  the  former.  There  is  also 
a  very  diminutive  kind,  with  a  flower  not  unlike  that  of  roig- 
nionette,  which  it  little  exceeds  in  size ;  it  is  only  found  in  the 
interior :  its  fruit  is  not  eaten. 

Fam.  RutacecB, —  Warangi^  rangiora,  Cmelicope  temata,J  a 
small  tree,  with  a  large  dark-green  leaf,  having  a  downy  white 
underside ;  it  bears  a  bunch  of  small  flowers,  which  have  the 
fragrance  of  the  violet. 

The  Pukerangiora  is  a  larger  variety  of  the  same ;  the  leaf 
is  often  nearly  a  foot  long  by  nearly  the  same  breadth :  it  pro- 
duces resin.  This  is  a  singular  and  very  ornamental  shrub, 
growing  about  twenty  feet  high,  (melicape  simplex.) 

Fam.  Euphorhiacece, — Tautvau,  ueueeke,  {euphorbia  glauca^) 
it  chiefly  grows  near  the  sea-shore,  and  in  open  spots  near  the 
mouths  of  rivers.  {Plagianthus,  devaricatus — betulinuSy^— 
urticinu^,)     Nau  nau, 

Fam.  Santalacece, — Maire,  maire  tawaki,  maire  taiki,  (mida 
salicifoUa.)  The  representative  of  the  sandal-wood  family. 
( — eucalyptoides, — myrtifolia) . 

Fam.  ThymelacecB. — Kaikaiattui,  (pimelia  virgaiaj  a  low 
shrub,  bearing  a  small  white  flower,  and  having  four  leaves 
at  right  angles  down  the  stem:  it  closely  resembles  the  daphne 
outatoranga,  ( —  arenaria,  —  Pilosa,  — prostrata,  — gnidia,  — 
urvilliana.) 

Fam.  Proteaceis, — Torn,  {persoonia  torn,)  a  tree  found  in 
the  Bay  of  Islands.  Rewa,  rewarewa,  (knightia  excelsa*) 
This  beautiful  tree  closely  resembles  the  banksia  of  Australia : 
when  young  it  is  very  ornamental,  and  grows  in  a  tapering 
form.  It  has  a  curious  dark  red  honey-suckle  flower.  The 
wood  greatly  resembles  that  of  the  casuarina,  and  is  durable. 
It  is  used  chiefly  for  pales,  shingles,  and  rails.  It  attains  a 
considerable  size  and  height. 

Fam.  LaurinecB. —  Tarairi^  (laurus  tarairi,)   a  fine  laige^ 


BOTANY.  453 

leafed  tree,  which  attains  a  considerable  size,  but  is  oiily  found 
north  of  the  Waikato;  it  bears  a  long  oval  kernel,  thinly 
covered  with  pulp,  which  has  a  strong  taste  of  turpentine. 
The  fruit  has  a  fine  purple  bloom,  and  looks  like  a  large  plum. 
The  wood  is  only  used  as  fuel. 

Taua  (—taua,)  a  noble  looking  tree,  forming  forests  in 
several  parts  of  the  south.  The  peculiarity  of  the  New  Zealand 
forest  is,  ^dth  a  few  similar  exceptions,  that  it  is  composed  of 
all  kinds  of  trees  intermingled. 

The  tawa  has  a  small  narrow  leaf,  and  bears  a  purple  plum- 
shaped  fruit,  not  bad  eating ;  the  kernel  when  cooked  is  also 
eaten.  The  tree  attains  a  great  size,  but  the  wood  is  only  used 
as  fuel,  as  it  soon  takes  the  worm :  it  is  very  white  and  light. 
The  inner  bark  is  sweet,  and,  infused,  makes  a  very  nice 
beverage  for  the  traveller  when  his  tea  is  out,  which  does  not 
require  sugar.     Tangeo,  ( — calicaris.) 

Fam.  Atherospermacece. — Pukatea,  {laurelia  Novcb  Zeal :)  a 
large  timber  tree,  but  very  perishable,  it  decays  in  a  single 
year.  Its  roots  are  remarkably  prominent,  like  the  Austra- 
lian fig  tree.  The  wood  is  spongy,  but  tough;  it  is  more 
durable  in  water. 

Fam.  Polygonacetse, — Puka^  {polygonum  Austrak,)  the  willow 
plant. 

Seruna,  ( — adpres8umy)pohuehue,  ( — compleocum^  tutunahua, 
( — -prostratumy  rumex  crispus, — brunonianus,) 

Fam.  Chenopodiacew. — Poipapa,  {chenopodium  triandrum^ 
— -  botrys,  —  glaucum^  —  maritimum,  — friUicosum,  salicomia 
indica,) 

Fam.  Amaranthacew,  —  Peronychiase.  —  Nahui^  {alteman- 
thera  denticulata,)  kohukohu.  {mniarum  bijlorum,) 

Fam.  Plantagine(e. — Kopakopa^  {plantago  major,)  This 
plantain  closely  resembles  the  European,  but  is  indigenous 
and  a  valuable  medicinal  herb,  well  known  to  the  natives. 
Plantago  varia^  a  narrow  downy-leafed  plant;  leaf  long  and 
of  a  brownish  color. 

Fam.  Sahiacea:. — Salvia  koru.  This  beautiful  flower  is 
only  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  North  Cape,  bearing  a  large 
blue  and  white  flower. 


454  BOTANY. 

Fam.  PrimulacecB. — {Ana^allis  arvensis,  samolus  littaralis.) 

The  Fam.  Fagus, — Tawai  betula  nigra^  has  perhaps  two 
representatives,  which  attain  a  great  height  and  diameter;  they 
form  alpine  forests  in  the  southern  extremity  of  the  North 
Island,  and  everywhere  abound  in  the  Middle  Island.  The  rat 
formerly  fed  on  the  mast :  it  is  said  only  to  fruit  once  in  ten 
years. 

Fam.  Scrophularinacece. — Koromiko,  kokomiko,  {veronica  saH- 
cifolia,)  perhaps  the  most  generally  diffused  plant  in  New 
Zealand,  and  a  very  ornamental  one,  but  disappearing  before 
the  horse.  Formerly  large  groves  might  be  seen  of  it  in  every 
direction:  it  bears  a  tapering  shaped  flower,  of  a  purplish 
white.  Napuka,  karokiOj  ( — speciosa,)  a  variety  found  at  the 
Hokianga  Heads,  bearing  a  fine  scarlet  flower ;  the  leaves  are 
broader,  rounder,  and  thicker  than  the  former.  Taranga^ 
( — augiistifolia,)  a  small-leafed  variety.  ( — macrocarpa^ — 
ligustrifolia^ — -parviflora,  elliptica, — cataractcBj)  Piriii^  ( — rft- 
osmifolia,  — calgcina,  gratiola  sexdentata,  euphrasia  cuneata,) 
The  sides  of  Tongariro  are  covered  with  several  curious  varie- 
ties of  this  family,  some  of  which  may  prove  to  be  new. 

Fam.  CyrtandracecB, —  Waiuattuii  {rh^bdothamniM  solandri.) 
A  beautiful  delicate  shrub,  with  small  round  leaves,  and  bell- 
shaped  flowers,  of  an  orange  color,  streaked  with  purple,  much 
resembling  the  penstemon. 

Fam.  Solunece, — Poroporo,  kohoho,  koheuheii,  {solanum  lacina- 
turn,)  a  bush  sometimes  found  large  enough  to  be  classed 
amongst  trees ;  it  is  found  occasionally  bearing  white  flowers 
and  lighter  green  leaves,  but  in  general  the  flowers  are  very 
similar  in  color  to  those  of  the  potatoe,  and  the  leaves  of  a 
dark  sombre  hue.  The  berries  are  as  large  as  gooseberries,  of 
an  orange  color,  and  are  commonly  eaten.  There  is  a  smaller 
solanum  closely  resembling  the  English  night-shade  in  size 
and  flower,  which  is  white;  it  bears  a  purple  berry,  which, 
with  the  leaves,  are  both  eaten ;  its  native  name  is  raupeti  and 
refnuroa, 

Fam.  Myoperine^B, — Manawa,  {aricennia  tonientosa,)  the 
mangrove ;  it  abounds  in  the  north  end  of  the  island,  where  it 
forms  a  kind  of  marine  grove,  having   numbers  of  oysters 


BOTANY.  455 

sticking  to  its  roots  and  branches^  but  it  is  not  found  south  of 
Kawia.  Ngaio,  (myoporum  Icetum,)  a  glossy-leafed  tree, 
abounding  near  the  sea.  In  the  south  it  attains  a  considerable 
size ;  the  wood  is  hard  and  durable ;  when  young  it  is  very 
ornamental^  and  valuable  as  a  shelter  from  the  sea  air,  which 
seems  to  suit  it  the  best ;  it  is  often  three  feet  in  diameter. 
( — pubescens,)  a  variety  belonging  to  the  Middle  Island. 

Fam.  VerhenacecB, — Puriri,  {mtex  littoralis.)  This  tree  is 
not  found  south  of  Kawia :  it  belongs  to  the  same  order  as  the 
teak,  and  seems  to  require  the  sea  air.  The  leaf  is  glossy ; 
the  flower  much  like  the  anterinum ;  the  wood  is  of  a  dark  brown 
color,  very  close  grained  and  heavy ;  it  is  extremely  durable, 
and  can  only  be  worked  when  green.  Posts  nearly  forty  years 
in  the  ground  have  been  found  as  fresh  as  when  first  put  in. 
This  valuable  timber  is  generally  much  pierced  by  the  grub  of 
a  large  cerambix. 

Fam.  Nolanacece, — {Dicondra  repens). 

Fam.Moreacece, — {Broussonetia  papyrifera.) 

Fam.  Eupatoricece, — Pukapuka,  {Brachyglatis  repanda,)  a 
handsome  shrub ;  the  leaves  are  very  large  and  white  under- 
neath. When  the  natives  first  saw  paper,  they  compared  it  to 
these  leaves,  and  hence  both  it  and  books  in  general  are  called 
puka  puka.     Rani,  ( — rani, — rotundifolia,) 

Fam.  Juncacew. — Kowarawara  {a^telia  Banksii),  It  grows 
as  an  epiphyte,  and  also  in  swampy  places.  {Luzulapicta,  astelia 
solandri,  juncusmaritimus, — effusui—Jilifonnis) . 

Fam.  AracecB, — Taro  (calidium  esculentum).  This  plant 
was  introduced  by  the  natives  when  they  first  came;  it  is 
cultivated  as  an  article  of  food. 

Fam.  Typhacea, — Raupo  {typha  angustifolia.).  The  root 
is  edible  ;  the  leaves  are  used  in  lining  and  roofing  houses. 

Fam.  NaiadacecB. — {Potamogeton  nutans). 

Fam.  JuncaginacecB, — ( Triglochin  Jlaccidum), 

Fam.   Graminacece, — {Agrostis  crinita, — ovata,  — rigida, — 

procera,  — conspicua,  —  cemula,  —  Billiardieri,  —  Forsteri,  — 

pilosa,)  patiti,  {Phalaris  canariensis,  Dantlwnia  pallida,  Bromiis 

Aust rails,  Sch£nodorus  littoralis,  Triticum  scabnim,  — repens, 

Poa  Australis,  — imbecilla,  — ccespitosa,  — Paspalum  orbiculare, 


466  BOTANY. 

Bottboellia  uniflora^)  moa,  {spinifex  sericeus, — with  a  pricklj 
ball  of  flowers, —  avena  antartica,)  kakaho,  ioetoe,  {arfitulo  Aub-- 
trails).  This  is  an  elegant  growing  plant ;  it  attains  a  height  of 
about  six  feet ;  the  flowering  stalk  is  nearly  twice  that  height, 
terminated  by  a  fine  waving  plume ;  it  is  used  to  line  their 
houses  with,  and  looks  extremely  neat.  The  stalk  is  called 
kakahoy  the  leaf  toetoe, 

Karetu,  {Torresia  redolens,)  a  sweet-scented  grass. 

Of  the  numerous  families  of  sedges,  ferns,  &c.,  the  following 
must  suffice : — 

Fam.  CyperacecB. — Toetoe,(Lepido8permaelatior,)  a  coarse 
cutting  grass;  there  are  twenty  other  varieties  of  the  same 
family :  a  general  name  for  sedges. 

Fam.  RestiacecB, —  Wiwi^  {Leptocarpus  simplex^)  a  general 
name  for  rushes. 

Fam.  Polyodiacece — Huru  hum  whenua  {Asplenium  Lucidum. 
Falcatum, — polyodon, — obliquum, — obtusatum^  —flabellifoUum, 
— bulbiferum,)  ota  (niphobolus-bicolor) . 

Itaorao,  aruhe,  {Pteris  esculenta,)  tuakura,  {Dieksonia  squar- 
rosa,)  ponga,  {cyathea  dealbata,)  korau  mamaku,  {cyathea  medu- 
laris).     The  stem  of  this  fern  tree  is  eaten. 

Mouku,  paratawiti  {marattia  elegans),  A  beautiful  fern, 
with  an  edible  root  not  unlike  the  bulbous  scales  of  the 
white  lily. 

Fam.  GleicheniacecB, —  Waewaekaka^  {Gleichenia  hecysto^ 
phylla,)  kopakopa,  {Trichomenes  renifarme).  A  beautiful 
circular-leafed  fern,  with  the  fructification  on  its  edges. 

Fam.  OsmundacecB. — Mange  mange  {Lygodium  articulatum). 
A  beautiful  climbing  fern,  used  in  building. 

Fam.  OphroghssacecB. — Ti  taranaki  {Botychium  Atutrale). 
A  remarkable  plant,  abundant  in  the  grassy  plains.  It  was 
formerly  eaten. 

Fam.  Lycopodiacece.—  (Lycopodium  lessonianum^ — densum, 
cernuum,  — JlagellariOy  —  laterale^  — phlegmaria, — volubile, — 
d'  Urvilhei  tmesipteru  Forsterii).  All  the  plants  belonging  to 
this  family  are  very  beautiful.  The  Jungermannia  is  a  very 
large  family  ;  the  Hepaticem  also,  and  the  Musci,  calyptrati, 
mosses  and  liver  worts,  many  of  which  are  very  beautiful,  and 


BOTANY.  457 

extremely  numerous.  Several  of  the  fungi  are  edible.  Horses 
and  cows  have  introduced  the  English  mushroom.  Varieties 
of  the  truffle  and  morell  are  also  found.  New  Zealand  is  rich 
in  its  AlgcBy  several  of  them  are  edible ;  one  kind^  Www,  similar 
to  the  chondrus  crispus,  or  carrigreen  moss,  is  boiled  with  the 
juice  of  the  tupakihi^  and  the  rimuroa^  a  large  tubular  variety, 
is  roasted  and  eaten. 

Such  is  the  brief  sketch  of  the  New  Zealand  flora,  comprised 
in  the  islands  named  as  forming  its  botanic  centre ;  how  far 
portions  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  islands  to  the  north  of  it, 
still  remains  to  be  ascertained.  Allowing  the  New  Zealand 
isles  to  be  the  disrupted  links  of  an  ancient  continental  line, 
we  may  reasonably  expect  to  find  some  of  the  plants  in  many 
of  the  northern  islands,  wherever  there  is  sufficient  elevation 
to  give  a  similar  climate  to  its  own.  In  corroboration  of  this 
idea,  three  New  Zealand  plants^  have  been  discovered  on  the 
lofty  mountain  of  Kini-balu,  in  Borneo,  under  the  equator, 
and  these,  too,  of  the  most  peculiar  antarctic.  New  Zealand  and 
Tasmanian  genera,  t?j«.,  Drapetes,  Phyllocladus,  and  Drimys^'* 
and  it  remains  to  be  proved  whether  even  the  kauri  itself,  or 
a  variety  of  it,  may  not  be  found  even  so  far  south  as  the 
south-westein  coast  of  New  Zealand.-}* 

Thus,  the  wonderful  way  in  which  the  various  floras  of  our 
earth  blend  with  each  other,  clearly  establish  the  harmonious 
unity  of  the  whole.  In  Australia,  everything  blooms  in  winter; 
in  fact,  the  seasons  are  reversed :  the  trees  which  retain  their 
foliage  in  winter,  shed  it  in  summer,  and  the  wintry  winds^ 
whose  dismal  howl  tells  us  that  summer  is  past,  are  there 
represented  by  the  hot  winds  of  summer,  which  make  the 
same  mournful  noise,  and  have  the  same  parching,  withering 
effect  on  vegetation  as  our  wintry  ones.  This  is  not  the  case  in 
New  Zealand ;  there  the  trees,  indeed,  shed  their  old  leaves  in 
summer ;  but  the  forest  is  ever  green,  and  little  difference  is 
perceptible  to  mark  the  roll  of  seasons :  an  equable  climate 
produces  an  equable  vegetation. 

*  See  Dr.  Hooker's  Introductory  Essay,  p.  xxxvi. 

t  See  Brenner*t  Journal,  who  states  that  he  there  met  with  the  kauri. 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

HINTS    TO    INTENDED    EMIQRAKT8. 

The  subject  of  EmigratioD  is  one  of  the  greatest  interest  to 
thousands  in  this  over-populous  country.  Archimedes  only 
required  standing  room  to  move  the  world ;  but  there  is  now 
none  for  numbers  at  home.  To  obtain  one,  the  first  object 
is  to  move  off  to  lands  which  furnish  space  for  exertion,  and 
it  is  to  the  colonies  the  attention  is  naturally  directed.  Then 
the  next  enquiry  is.  What  are  the  inducements  to  emigrate  ? 
The  answer  is.  To  find  a  home ;  this  is  the  desired  object 
with  many;  provision  for  an  increasing  family  is  another; 
and,  lastly,  health  is  with  others  the  grand  desideratum.  To  gain 
such  inquirers,  the  advocates  of  each  colonization  field  advance 
their  several  claims.  The  American  speaks  in  glowing  terms 
of  his  unbounded  realms  in  the  far  west,  his  fertile  plains, 
his  primGeral  forests,  his  rising  cities,  his  roads,  his  rivers, 
his  free  constitution,  and  so  many  other  advantages,  that  he 
has  no  time  to  tell  us  of  the  contraries.  Few  of  those  who 
emigrate  to  America  properly  reflect  on  the  step  they  are 


hutts  to  lntended  emigbants.  459 

taking)  or  I  am  persuaded  they  would  hesitate  before  they 
renounce  the  protection  of  the  British  flag,  and  their  connec- 
tion with  the  land  of  their  forefathers.  Is  this  no  little  sacrifice  ? 
Let  those  who  talk  of  emigration,  weigh  well  the  extent  of 
it.  But  there  is  another  question  also  to  be  put  to  such :  Have 
you  thought  of  the  difference  in  manners,  customs,  and  views 
between  you  and  the  Americans  ?  Will  you  like  to  hear  the 
honored  institutions  of  your  country  ridiculed,  and  that  a 
'^ Britisher"  is  a  constant  butt  for  them  to  pass  their  jokes 
on,  and  that  until  you  can  be  considered  fairly  naturalized, 
there  will  be  little  peace  for  you ;  and  to  become  so,  your 
feelings  must  be  so  changed  as  to  be  able  to  view  everything 
in  the  same  light  they  do?  If  you  be  ever  so  free  and 
independent,  and  opposed  to  aristocracy,  still,  let  me  inquire, 
are  you  any  more  attached  to  democratic  rule  ?  But,  without 
speaking  of  slavery  in  that  boasted  land  of  freedom,  let  us  ask 
what  are  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  settling  there.  If 
you  wish  to  live  in  the  older  inhabited  states,  the  price  of  land 
will  there  be  found  to  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation ;  if  you  go  back,  you  are  shut  out  from  the  world,  your 
lot  will  be  cast  amongst  the  advocates  of  Lynch  law.  Then, 
again,  there  is  something  more  than  the  mere  acquirement  of 
land  to  be  considered.  The  labour  of  clearing  the  primaeval 
forest,  and  all  the  early  di^culties  of  a  settler's  life  in  the 
back  woods,  are  also  to  be  taken  into  account. 

But,  who  would  emigrate  if  he  knew  the  risk  he  ran  of 
losing  his  health.  How  seldom  do  we  hear  of  those  who 
fall  victims  to  the  fearful  agues,  and  still  more  fearful  fevers, 
which  rage  in  those  forest  lands,  when  first  exposed  to  the 
sun's  rays,  after  ages  of  seclusion ; — its  fierce  beams  draw 
forth  the  earth's  vapours,  so  long  locked  up  in  its  breast,  and 
carry  off  numbers  of  newly-arrived  settlers,  who,  in  fact,  only  go 
to  make  a  clearing  for  others  to  inhabit.*    But  the  summer's 

*  My  dear  husband,  my  servant,  the  poor  babe,  and  myself  were  all  at  one 
time  confined  to  our  beds  with  ague.  You  know  how  severe  my  sufferings 
always  were  at  home  with  intermittents,  and  need  not  marvel  if  they  were  no 
less  great  in  a  country  where  lake-fevers  and  all  kinds  of  intermittent  fevers 
abound. — See  Lettertfrwn  the  Wife  of  an  Emigrant  Officer,  page  222. 


460  HINTS  TO  INTENDED  EMIGRANTS. 

heat  has  passed  away,  and  is  suddenly  succeeded  by  an  almost 
arctic  winter.  We  talk  of  cold  in  England^  but  what  is  it  when 
compared  with  that  of  an  American  winter.  I  am  not  writing 
these  remarks  to  prejudice  the  mind  against  America ;  there  is 
much  to  admire  in  it,  and  it  is,  and  will  be,  a  great  nation ;  but 
my  remarks  are  for  those  who  want  to  find  a  new  home,  lest  the 
temptation  of  a  short  passage,  and  cheap  land,  should  lead 
them  to  lose  sight  of  more  eligible  spots.  It  is  true,  in  Canada 
there  is  British  rule  and  cheap  land,  but  still  the  climate  is  a 
fearful  drawback,  and  the  health  of  the  settler  must  necessarily 
be  very  much  tried,  so  much  so,  that  niunbers  are  now  actually 
emigrating  from  New  Brunswick  and  Canada  to  New  Zealand, 
and  a  few  even  from  the  United  States  on  this  very  account. 

Therefore,  in  respect  both  of  climate  and  general  health, 
the  settler  will  find  no  country  so  suitable  as  New  Zealand, 
and  even  Australia  itself  does  not  offer  the  advantages  which 
it  does,  for  no  colonization  field  has  so  mild  a  climate,  or  so 
fertile  a  soil  to  recommend  it  as  this  Austral-Britain. 

If,  therefore,  the  intended  emigrant  gives  the  same  weight 
to  these  reasons  which  the  writer  thinks  they  deserve,  he  will 
at  once  make  New  Zealand  the  country  of  his  selection,  and 
then  the  following  hints  are  given  him. 

First. — With  regard  to  preparation,  let  him  take  whatever 
he  does  of  the  best,  and  select  only  really  useful  things; 
as  a  general  rule,  he  should  have  as  little  as  possible,  except 
money.  Take  gold,  it  occupies  no  room,  and  everywhere 
preserves  its  value ;  in  fact,  if  anything,  it  is  increased  abroad. 
The  less  the  settler  carries  beyond  his  purse,  the  less  anxiety 
he  will  have,  and  the  less  expense ;  for  freight  and  warehouse 
charges  are  very  heavy  abroad,  and  it  is  desirable  that  the 
emigrant  should  look  about  him  before  he  finally  decides  upon 
his  permanent  location.  On  landing,  look  after  your  property 
yourself,  and  see  it  safe  through  the  Custom-house,  for  although 
there  may  not  be  the  same  danger  of  losing  a  portion  of  it 
which  there  is  in  London,  from  bad  management,  or  rather 
total  want  of  it,  as  many  have  experienced  to  their  loss,  still 
the  emigrant  will  find  the  advice  given  to  be  good. 

Before  deciding  on  the  spot  you  are  going  to  settle  in. 


HINTS  TO   INTENDED  EMIGRANTS.  461 

see  that  you  have  some  probability  of  obtaining  the  means 
of  grace;  for  those  who  there  go  to  lonely  places  in  the 
bush 9  do  themselves  an  incalculable  injury ;  they  soon  lower 
their  standard  of  morality,  and  in  throwing  aside  the  ob- 
servance of  religion,  they  also  reduce  themselves  to  a  lower 
mental  position.  I  have  repeatedly  noticed  this,  and  re- 
marked, how  soon  families  have  lost  their  high  tone,  and 
become  assimilated  to  the  worst  classes  of  colonists ;  in  fact, 
it  is  religion  which  elevates  the  man,  and  be  his  family  or 
his  fortune  what  it  may,  cast  away  religion,  and  he  will  not 
maintain  his  position.  A  man  without  the  fear  of  God,  and 
concern  for  his  soul,  is  a  poor  pitiable  creature,  wherever  and 
whatever  else  he  may  be.  Let  the  emigrant  bear  this  advice 
in  mind,  and  he  will  ever  thank  the  giver  of  it. 

Next. — With  regard  to  land,  be  contented  at  first  with  a 
little ;  at  any  rate,  lay  not  out  more  than  one-fourth  of  your 
principal  in  its  purchase.  A  greater  extent  of  land  than  you 
can  make  use  of,  will  be  of  no  advantage,  but  a  positive  incum- 
brance. Enclose  some  as  soon  as  possible,  and  keep  cattle  upon 
it ;  they  will  increase  without  much  labor  being  required,  and 
labor  in  the  colonies  is  money.  Before  leaving  England,  be 
careful  in  selecting  your  ship,  and  in  knowing  what  kind  of  a 
man  the  captain  is ;  your  lives  as  well  as  comfort  depend,  in 
a  great  measure,  upon  him.  Know  in  what  way  you  are  to  be 
provisioned ;  and  if  you  have  children,  whether  there  will  be 
any  little  comforts  provided,  such  as  milk,  preserves,  and  fresh 
provisions  sufficient  for  the  voyage;  also  ask  what  vrill  be 
your  allowance  of  fresh  water:  do  not  esteem  these  to  be 
trifling  things ;  you  will  not  regret  having  thought  of  them. 

To  single  men  intending  to  emigrate,  I  would  say,  marry 
before  you  go  out ;  a  good  wife  is  a  great  treasure  and  stay  to  a 
young  man.  Many  have  been  ruined,  because  they  have  not 
had  a  bosom  friend  to  sustain  them  in  times  of  trial,  besides 
the  social  comfort  thus  derived,  for  none  can  tell  how  dreary  a 
young  settler's  home  is  without  a  wife,  and  how  many  tempta- 
tions she  saves  him  from.  Therefore,  to  every  single  man  I 
again  say,  marry,  for  wives  are  not  to  be  had  abroad ;  property 
is  of  little  consideration,  compared  with  that  of  a  partner. 


462  HINTS  TO  IllTElfDED  EMIGRAlfrS. 

And  lastly^  with  r^ard  to  the  part  which  o£Een  the  most 
advantages :  the  province  of  Auckland  holds  out  many ;  it 
has  a  fine  climate,  a  good  port,  good  society.  The  town  is  the 
largest  in  the  colony,  the  province  is  also  free  from  earth- 
quakes, which  are  felt  in  every  other  part  of  the  islands ;  all 
the  fruits  which  can  be  raised  in  Sydney — the  orange,  lemon^ 
banana  guava — can  be  raised  north  of  the  Bay  of  Islands. 
Taranaki,  or  New  Plymouth,  holds  out,  perhaps,  fewer  in- 
ducements, as  there  is  so  little  land  for  sale  in  that  province ; 
but  its  scenery  is  very  beautiful.  Wanganui  presents  more, 
from  its  having  a  greater  extent  of  land  for  selection ;  Ahuriri, 
on  the  eastern  coast,  is  a  fine  field ;  much  land  still  remains 
there  for  selection ;  Canterbury,  if  you  intend  feeding  sheep, 
will  do,  provided  you  have  capital.  Otako  is  highly  spoken 
of;  in  fact,  every  part  of  New  Zealand  offers  great  induce- 
ments ;  but  those  which  have  most  land  are  best  suited  to  the 
settler.  To  the  artizan,  all  hold  out  the  prospect  of  high 
wages,  and  certain  employment.     The  steady  must  get  on. 

It  is  amusing  to  see  how  surely  settlers  have  advanced  from 
small  means  to  a  competency — agricultural  laborers,  to  be 
substantial  farmers ;  sailors  and  artizans  to  be  merchants,  and 
men  of  substance ;  and  the  same  means  which  were  available 
for  them,  will  be  so  for  others.  The  ladder  by  which  they 
mounted,  still  remains  for  others  to  use,  and  that  is  industry, 
temperance,  and  perseverance. 

The  settler  finds  every  day  something  to  cheer  him  on  ;  he 
sees  his  farm  progress,  and  his  prospects  advance ;  everything 
he  does  improves  his  place,  and  as  he  gradually  changes  the 
wilderness  into  a  comfortable  home,  he  has  the  certain  prospect 
of  leaving  a  competency  for  his  family,  however  large  it  may 
be,  with  the  knowledge  that  as  the  colony  rises,  it  will  rise 
with  it,  and,  before  long,  possess  all  the  comforts  of  the  parent 
country,  with  an  exemption  from  many  of  its  attendant  evils* 


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APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  A. 

A  LIST  of  New  Zealand  customB  resembling  those  alluded  to  in  Scripture  as 
being  common  in  Israel,  or  to  the  heathen  around  them,  for  conformity  to 
many  of  which  they  were  driven  from  their  inheritance  : — 

I.  Sacrifices  of  the  dead.    In  the  hahunga,  or  raising  of  the  bones  of 

the  dead,  the  natives  assembled  together,  and  having  scraped  the 

bones  and  painted  them  with  red  ochre,  they  placed  food  upon  them, 

and  danced  around  them  during  the  night,  %y  the  light  of  fires,  and 

afterwards  ate  these  offerings  of  the  dead. — Fs.  0%^.  28. 

n.  Cutting  the  flesh  for  giief, — Lev.  xix.  28;   xxL  6;  Deut.  xiv.  1| 

Jer.  xvi.  6 ;  xli.  6 ;  zlvii.  6 ;  xlviii.  87. 

IIL  Sorcert/f  vntchorajt. — Lev.  six.  26;  Deut.  xviii.  •      11 ;  2  Kings 

xvii  17 ;  xxi.  6. 
rV.  Tatooin^. — Lev.  xix.  28 ;  Jer.  iv.  30. 
y.  Crying  when  friends  meet, — Glen.  xxix.  11;  xzxiiL  4;  xlv.  14,  16; 

xlvi.  29. 
yi.  Sating  their  enemiesy  a  figurative  term  in  Scripture,  but  evidently 
borrowed  from  ancient  custom. — Ps.  xiv.  4 ;  xxvii.  2 ;  Jer.  x.  25 ; 
Micah  iii  3 ;  Zech.  xi.  9. 
^11.  Burning  the  dead,— Amos  vi.  10 ;  1  Sam.  xxxi.  12. 
yilL  PuUing^  meat  and  flesh  into  baskets.— Gen.  xL  17 ;  Ex.  xxix.  8 
2  Kings  X.  7. 
IX.  The  bridegroom  paging  for  his  bride, — Gen.  xxxiv.  12 ;  Ex.  xxiL  16 

Deut.  xxii.  29 ;  1  Sam.  xviiL  25. 
X.  Casting  lots,— JoahuA  vii.  14,  16;  1  Sam.  x.  20,  21;  xiv.  41,  42 

Prov.  xvL  33 ;  Acts  L  26. 
XI.  Regulations  for  cleanliness. — Deut.  xxiiL  13 ;  the  natives  formerly 

used  the  mere  for  a  similar  purpose. 
XII.  Cutting  the  hair  for  grief  or  as  a  sign  of  mourning. — Lev.  xxL  5  ; 
Deut.  xiv.  1 ;  Isaiah  xv.  2 ;  xxii.  12 ;  Jer.  xL  6 ;  xlvii.  37 ;  Ezek. 
vii.  18 ;  xxvii.  31. 
XIII.  Hating  of  blood.— Gen.  ix.  4 ;  Lev.  iii.  17 ;  vii.  26 ;  xvii.  10,  14 ; 
xix.  26;  Deut.  xii.  16;  xv.  23;  1  Sam.  xiv.  32,  83;  Ezek.xxxiii.  25; 
xliv.  7, 15 ;  Acts  XV.  20,  29. 
Xiy.  Crying  for  the  dead, — Gen.  xxvii.  41 ;  L  3,  4,  10;  Kimi.  xx.  29; 

Deut.  xxxiv.  8 ;  2  Sam.  L  12, 17 ;  iii  32  ;  Acts  viii.  2. 
Xy.  The  law  of  blood.— Gen.  ix.  6 ;  Ex.  xxL  12 ;  Lev.  xxiv.  17 ;  2  Sam. 

iii.  30;  1  Kmgs  ii.  32  ;  Bcv.  xiiL  10. 
Xyi.  Hair  used  in  sacrifice. — Ezek.  v.  1 — 4. 

Xyil.  The  younger  brother  taking  the  elder  brother's  wife  after  his  death. — 
Gen.  xxxviii.  8 ;  Deut.  xxv.  5 ;  Matt,  xxii  24. 

H   H 


4fi6  APPENDIX. 

XVlll.  The  nearest  relativey  if  there  he  no  hroiheTy  as  in  the  case  of  Obed 
and  Ruth. — Kuth  i?.  10. 
XIX.  The  elder  brother  taking  his  sister  as  his  birthright, — Qen.  xx.  12. 
XX.  The  touching  of  food. — Haggai  ii.  12. 
XXI.  Men  dressing  in  female  clo^ng. — Deut.  xxii.  6. 
XXII.  God  present  in  the  whirlwind, — 1  Kings  xix.  11 ;  Job  xxxyiii.  1 ; 

Ezek.  L  4 ;  Nahum  L  3. 
XXIII.   Wives  of  a  king  the  property  of  his  successor. — 2  Sam.  xtL  22  ;  1 

Kings  ii.  22. 
XXrV.  Wives  bought,  Sfc. — G^en.  xxix.  18  ;  2  Sam.  iii.  14. 
XXV.  Ventriloquismy  the  Witch  of  Endor. — 1  Sam.  xxviii.  7. 
XXVI.   Women  unclean  after  childbirth. — Lev.  xii.  2,  5  ;  Luke  iL  22. 
XXVII.  All  unclean  who  have  touched  a  corpse. — Haggai  ii.  13. 
XXVIII.  TaumaUy  the  custom  of  betrothing  from  ear  Uest  gears. — Matt.  i.  18; 
Luke  i.  27. 
XXIX.  First-fruits  offered. — Ex.  xxii.  29  ;  xxiL  16, 19 ;  Proverbs  iiL  9. 
XXX  The  scapegoat. — Lev.  xvi.  10.     The  natives  let  the  first  fiah  go 
which  they  caught  to  bring  back  others. 
XXXI.  Bulrush  vessels.     Moki's. — Isa.  xviii.  2. 
XXXII.  Prostituting  daughters. — Lev.  xix.  29. 
XXXIII.  The  ancient  cubit  same  measure  as  the  New  Zealand,  from  the  end 

of  the  middle  finger  to  the  elbow. 
XXXrV.  Males  only  permitted  to  eat  sacred  food. — Lev.  vi.  29. 

XXXV.  Worshipping  in  groves. — Ezek.  xx.  28 ;  xxxiii.  25  j  XiCV.  xviL  10,  11. 
XXXVI.  Those  who  go  to  war  are  Tapu. — Deut.  xxiii.  9. 


APPENDIX  B. 


The  following  Table  will  show  the  close  connexion  between  the  natives  of  New- 
Zealand  and  the  Polynesian  race  in  general : — 

Atua ,  general  name  for  the  Deitg  in  almost  all  the  islands^  teu,  Aleutian 
isles. 

Aitua,  satisfaction  of  the  spirit,  an  evil  omen;    Aitua,  Spirit,  Samoan, 
Barotonga ;  Maitu,  Pau. 

Aka,  creeping  planty  a  hand;  Tonga,  Barotonga,  Mangarewa,  Nukahiva,  jaka, 
a  wild  yam. 

Akaaka,  root  of  a  potato;  Samoa^  Tahaiti,  Hawaii,  Vitia,  Tarawa. 

Hue,  general  name  for  the  pumpkin  or  melon,  or  creeping  vines  ;  Fue  Pohoe, 
convolvus ;  Fue  Fue,  wild  vine,  Sam. ;  Hue,  Nuk.,  Haw. ;  Pohuehue,  do. ; 
Pohue,  Tah. ;  thegourd  oonvol. ;  Braziliensis. 

Huhu,  moth ;  Uu,  Bar.,  Nuk.,  an  insect  of  the  beetle  kind. 

Hutu,  a  tree,  Fhillocladus,  Trachamanoides,Tah.  and  Nuk.,  the  Barringtonia 
spcciosa ;  Iii,  Sam.  Ton. ;  ihi,  Nuk,  a  species  of  ohesnut. 

Ipu,  calabash,  cup ;  Sam.,  Tong.,  Nuk.,  Tah.,  Mang.,  Haw. 

Iro,  maggot,  Ilo,  Haw. ;  Vio,  Tah. ;  lo,  Nuk. 

Kaho,  and  Kakaho,  reed,  a  rush ;  Kaho,  Tong. ;  Kakaho,  Tong. ;  Kakao, 
Mang. ;  Aeho,  Tah. ;  Ahuawa,  Haw. 

Kakana,  grain,  food,  Feejee. 

Kakau,  handle  of  a  tool,  the  stalk  or  stem  of  a  plant,  Nok. ;  Kau,  Tang. ; 
Au,  Sam.,  Haw. 


APPENDIX.  467 

Kawakawfv;  eridentl^  used  when  the  natives  first  ftrnved  as  Cava;  the 
memory  of  the  custom  is  preserred  in  the  names  of  places  where  they  used  to 
meet  for  drinking  it,  as  Kawaranga,  in  the  Thames. 

Kete,  basket  J  Rar.,  Mang. ;  £te,  Sam.,  Haw. ;  Xete  in  the  Tong.  and  Yit., 
is  the  stomach  or  belly. 

Kiri,  skiHf  Bar.;  Kili,  Feejee ;  Fakaafa,  Tong. ;  Iri,  Tah. ;  Hi,  Haw. ;  Kii,  Nuk. ; 
a  skin,  bark,  rind  ;  also  a  rasp,  file,  originally  of  the  shark's  skin. 

Kiore,  raty  Mang. ;  Kiole,  Pau. ;  lole,  Sam.,  Haw. 

Kirikiri,  gravel,  pebbles,  Tar. ;  Kilikili,  Iliili,  Sam.,  Haw. 

Ko,  native  gpade,  Nuk. ;   O,  Tah.,  Haw.,  Mexico. 

Kohia,  the  New  Zealand  passion  flower,  ohia,  the  eugenia  malaccensif 
(Hawaiki). 

Kuku,  muscl^y  shell-fish,  Tong. ;  tiu,  Sam.,  Haw. 

Kuku,  pigeon ;  Nuk.,  a  green  dove. 

Kukupa,  pigeon^  Pau. ;  Uupa,  Tah. 

Kumara,  atoeet potato,  Batata;  Xumara,  Mang.;  Kumaa,  or  Kumawa,  Nuk.; 
Umara,  Tah. ;  Uala,  Haw. 

Kumete,  TJmete,  Ubique,  wooden  bowl, 

Kupenga,  Upenga,  Upena,  Upea,  Ubique,  sieve, 

Kuri,  dog,  Rar.,  Mang. ;  Kuli,  Tong. ;  Uli,  Sam. ;  Uri,  Tar. ;  Koli  (Feejee). 

Mai,  moire  tree ;  Mai,  Mea,  Tong.,  Mang.,  Nuk.,  Tar. ;  Maiore,  Tah.,  Mang., 
Pau. ;  Aeiorc,  Haw. ;  breadfruit  tree. 

Mahana,  warm  ;  Tah.,  the  sun,  a  day. 

Marae ;  properly  the  court  before  the  Tohunga^s  house ;  it  applied  to  any 
open  space  m  a  pa ;  in  Tahaiti,  it  is  a  sacred  enclosure;  Mara  (Fejoe),  a  burial 
place. 

Miro,  Podocarpus  ferrugenea^  Tah. ;  Mo,  Nuk. ;  a  tree,  Thespicia  populneae. 

Moa,  New  Zealand,  large  extinct  bird;  Ubique,  the  common  fowl. 

Parana,  sperm  whale;  Palaaoa,  Haw. ;  Paaoa,  Nuk. ;  Mang.,  same  as  New 
Tab.,  Zeaknd. 

Poepoe,  ball  used  in  play :  a  round  thing ;  Fae,  Tong.,  Haw.,  Bar. ;  Poe, 
Bar.,  Mang.,  a  pearl. 

Pona,  knot,  Sam.,  Bar.,  Nuk.,  Haw.,  the  parts  of  a  sugar  cane  between  the 
joints. 

Ponapona,yotn^;  Pona,  Nuk. 

Pungawerewere,  spider;  Punavelevelo,  Haw. ;  Punayeeyee,  Nuk. 

Bae,  Lae,  Ae,  Vhique,  forehead, 

Bata,  tree:  Lata,  Tab.,  Tuscarpus  edulis;  Lata,  Tong.,  a  tree,  Metrosiderot 
robusta, 

Bau,  a  leaf.  Bar.,  Mang.,  Pau. ;  Lau,  La.,  Sam. ;  Lau,  Lou,  Tong. ;  Lau, 
Hau. ;  Au,  Ou,  Nuk. ;  Ndntu,  Ndra,  Yit. ;  a  leaf,  foliage,  raurau,  Tah. 

P^°"» .    I  to  rub^yresB,  or  squeeze ;  Lomi,  Lolomi,  Omi,  to  shampoo. 

Bongomai,  a  New  Zealand  god;  Tahaiti,  Te  Bongo,  Orono  Haw. 

Boro,  brain ;  Oo,  Nuk.,  the  core  of  the  breadfruit ;  Lolo,  Sam.,  the  kernel  of 
the  old  coooanut ;  Lolololo,  fat ;  Lolo,  Tong.,  oil,  oily.  Haw. 

Bororoi,  kind  of  pudding  formed  of  mashed  kumara  or  potato;  Loloi,  Tong.; 
Tutolo,  Haw. ;  Turoro,  Mang.,  a  pudding  in  which  cocoanut  oil  is  an  ingredient. 

Buru,  owl ;  Lulu,  Sam.,  Tong.,  Yit. 

Tapa,  cloth  (Tahaiti),  New  Zeialand,  a  piece  for  a  patch. 

Taro,  arum ;  Talo,  Tao,  Ubique. 

Ti,  throughout  the  islands,  name  of  a  tree  in  New  Zealand^  Draticena 
Auslralis. 

Toa,  a  tree  (Tonga),  Toa. 

Tohora,  black  whale.  Tab.,  Haw. ;  Tafola,  Sam.,  Fak. ;  Tafoa,  Tong. 

Tupapaku,  iitfcui  imi^;  Tupapau,Tah. 

H   H   2 


468 


APPENDIX. 


Vri^/hut  of  the  kiekiei  Eulo,  Niua,  Kara,  Bar. ;  Painni,  Tah.j  Ula>  Hsw^ 
the  breadfruit. 

Uwhi-ufi,  yam  (Tonga). 

Wai,  gtinff^  ray  (Toiiffa),  fy. 

Wata,  ttandy  or  ndsed  platform  for  food ;  Fata,  Tah. 

Wao,  paper  mulherry :  a  tree  said  bj  the  xiatiyea  to  haye  been  orijnnallT 
brought  with  them ;  from  iti  inner  bark,  thej  formerly  made  a  kind  of  cloth 
used  Dj  females  as  a  cincture  for  the  hair ;  Fau,  Sam.,  Tong.,  Nuk.,  the  Hbiecue 
UUaceue,  a  tree  from  whose  bark  the  natives  make  twine;  Yao,  Yit. ;  the 
hibiscus;  the  cincture  worn  by  women  is  made  from  its  bark;  Fau,  Eak.; 
Fan,  Haw. 

Wiwi,  rush ;  Wi,  Tafifi,  Tah. ;  Tau,  Bar.;  Tahihi,  Haw.;  Tawiwi,  to  enanaie, 
entangle,  to  be  entangled  in  the  rushes. 


APPENDIX  C. 

TABLE  OF  THE  TBIBES  AND  POPULATION  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


Names. 


Aupouri  . 
Barawa    . 

Nga  Puhi 
Nga  ti  Whatua 
Na  ti  Tama 
Nga  te  Paoa     . 
Na  ti  Wakawe . 
Waikato  . 


Nga  ti  Maru    . 
Na  ti  Pehi 
Nga  ti  Buanui . 
Nga  Bua  hine  . 
Nga  ti  Apa 
Nga  ti  Hau 
Nga  ti  Tahi     . 
Nga  ti  Eura    . 
Mua-upoko 
Nga  ti  Awa     . 
Nga  ti  Baukawa 

Nga  ti  Tuaratoa 


Locality. 


North  Gape,  Three  Kings,  Wangaroa  Bay 
Eaitaia,  Mokianga        .... 
Wangaroa,  Bay  of  Islands,  Hokianga    . 
Kaipara  Manuikau  Waitemata 

Botorua 

Gulf  of  Hauraki 

Botorua 

Kfanukau,  Aotea-Eawia        .  • 

Waingaroa  Waipa,  Waikato         .        • 
Matamata,  Mokau        .... 

Maunga  Tautari 

Thames 

Taupo 


( 

Nga  ti  Kahungunu  , 
Bongitani 

Nga  Ngaitahu  .    .  | 


Taranaki 

Tangahoe  Nga  Bauru  .... 
Wangaihu  Bangitikei   .... 

Wanganui 

Upper  Wanganui  .... 

Wakatane 

Panari  Manawatu         .... 
E.  Coast  Tauranga        .... 

Otaki  Manawatu 

Taupo,  Maniatipoto  Na  ti  Hohera,  Na  ti  tu 

Bumakina,  Na  ti  Kurarua 
E.  Coast,  Turanga        .... 
Hauriri  in  Hawke*s  Bay 
Middle  Island,  motu  eka  Otago,  Chatham 

Isles 

Scattered  remains  of  tribes  overlooked  in  this 

list 


Numbera. 


Total 


400 
2,000 
6>000 
4,000 

500 
1,000 
4,000 
4,000 
2,000 
4,000 
2,000 
1,000 
2,000 
2,000 

GOO 

GOO 
8,000 
2,000 
4,000 
1,000 
4,000 
1,000 

2,000 
2,400 
2,600 

2,600 

4^800 

65,000 


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APPENDIX  F. 


Thb  (hook  was  of  the  gTea(«t  Tiolence  in  the  DRrnnreat  part  of  Oook'i 
Stnita,  k  few  milca  to  tho  S.  E.  of  Fort  Nicbolson  ;  but  it  via  felt  OTer  th« 
whole  of  the  ulandu  and  by  thips  at  sea  150  miles  away  from  the  rout ;  the 
whole  eilent  of  the  area  ovei  which  the  coDTuliion  nu  felt  niuit  haTe  been 
B60.000  iquaTe  milei. 


472  APPENDIX. 

Its  effects  were  most  yiolent  in  the  immediate  yicinity  of  Wellingioiif 
where  a  tract  of  land  of  4,600  square  miles  in  extent  was  elerated  to 
a  height  varjing  firom  one  to  nine  feet,  the  greatest  elevation  being  a  range 
of  hUlB  called  the  Bimutaka  (a  spur  from  the  Tararua  monntaina),  which 
terminates  abruptly  at  the  sea  coast  in  Cook's  Straits. 

This  range,  which  appears  to  hare  been  in  the  direct  line  of  the  subter- 
ranean action,  was  elevated  nine  feet,  while  the  whole  oountry  as  (ar  ma 
Wai-nui,  about  two  miles  northward  of  the  foot  of  the  road  leading  down 
the  Pari-pari,  was  elevated  with  it,  though  the  elevation  at  the  last  named 
point  was  on  the  sea  coast  very  slight.  On  the  Eastern  side  of  the  range  la 
the  valley  of  the  Wairarapa,  tue  centre  of  which  is  occupied  hj  a  lake.  Thia 
valley  and  plain  remain  on  the  same  level  as  before,  the  range  of  hills 
having  gone  up  alone,  forming  a  perpendicular  precipice  of  nine  feet  in 
height,  which  has  been  traced  to  a  distance  of  ninety  miles  inland. 

The  valley  of  the  Wai-rau,  on  the  middle  island  (which  appears  to  ha.Te 
formed  part  of  a  continuous  basin  with  the  Wairarapa),  together  with  pAita 
of  the  adjoining  coast,  subsided,  during  the  shock,  about  five  feet ;  so  thftt 
now  the  tide  flows  eight  miles  further  into  the  Wai-rau  ziver  than  it 
formerly  did. 

The  harbour  of  Port  Nicholson,  together  with  the  valley  of  the  Hutt,  is 
elevated  firom  four  to  five  feet,  the  greater  elevation  being  on  the  eastern  ode 
of  the  harbour,  and  the  lesser  on  the  western. 

A  rock,  known  as  the  **  Ballet  Bock,**  a  short  distance  from  one  of  the 
points  of  Evans's  Bay,  which  was  formerly  two  feet  under  water  at  the 
lowest  tides,  and  over  which  was  placed  a  buoy  to  mark  its  position,  ia  now 
nearly  three  feet  above  the  surfietce  at  low  water. 

Yery  little  tide  now  enters  the  Hutt  river,  in  consequence  of  the  ele- 
vation. 

The  Bimutaka  range  was  very  much  shaken  in  its  elevation,  and  a  greet 
many  large  slips  occurred,  laying  bare  the  western  side  as  weQ  as  on  the 
eastern. 

In  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Hutt,  numerous  hillocks  of  sand 
were  thrown  up,  forming  cones,  varying  from  two  to  four  feet  in  hdght,  and 
in  many  parts  of  the  valley  large  fissures  were  formed,  with  partial  aubai- 
dences  in  many  places.  In  the  pliuns  of  the  Manamatu  this  was  the  oase  to  a 
much  greater  degree. 

In  many  places,  soft  mud  and  slime  were  ejected,  but  this  appeared  more 
a  mochanicaf  effect  than  anything  else,  the  liquid  mud  having  pro-existed  and 
been  forced  out  at  fissures  formed  during  the  vibration  by  superincumbeot 
masses  of  more  solid  materiaL 

Upon  the  whole  the  province  of  Wellingtou  will  gain  considerable  advantage 
from  the  earthquake  : — 

Ist.  Large  portions  of  land  can  be  easily  reclaimed  from  the  harbour  for  the 
extension  of  the  town. 

2d.  The  main  road  to  the  Hutt  and  the  interior  formerly  suffered  oooa- 
sionally  from  the  action  of  the  waves  during  high  winds,  and  many  parte 
had  to  be  retained  by  a  sea-wall ;  now  it  will  escape  the  damage  of  the  one 
and  the  expense  of  the  other,  and  the  whole  of  that  valuable  valley  will  be 
rendered,  it  possible,  more  healthy  from  greater  facility  of  drainage  ariaiog 
from  the  elevation. 

3d.  A  much  better  coast  road  to  the  eastward  is  already  formed  for  the 
temporary  use  of  the  colonists  and  the  driving  of  cattle* 

Edk.  BoBXSTB,  Boyal  Sngineen. 


APPENDIX.  473 


APPENDIX  H. 

The  reader  will  be  interested  to  learn,  that  the  New  Zealand  Chief  Hoani 
Wiremu  Hipango,  who  is  so  repeatedly  mentioned  in  this  work,  as  the  uniform 
friend  of  the  settlers,  accompanied  the  author  in  this  visit  to  his  native  land  ; 
and  further,  that  he  has  had  the  honour  of  boin^  presented  to  Her  Majesty, 
who  BO  graciously  expressed  her  interest  in  the  welrare  of  the  Now  Zealand  race, 
that  the  author  takes  this  opportunity  of  recording  the  interview  which  he  like- 
wise had  the  honour  of  sharing. 

September  4,  1855. 

I  received  a  summons  from  Sir  William  Molesworth,  to  be  at  Buckingham 
Palace,  with  the  New  2iealand  chief  Hoani  Wiremu  To  Hipango,  to  morrow  at 
half'past  two,  to  be  presented  by  him  to  the  Queen.  Wo  took  a  cab  at  the  time 
appomted,  and  with  our  basket  of  presents  ftom  the  New  Zealand  chiefs,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Palace.  After  a  little  delay  in  discovering  the  right  way  of 
entering  this  abode  of  royalty,  we  were  ushered  through  ^  set  of  long  passages,  and 
were  showed  into  an  inner  room,  where  we  were  left.  It  was  elegant,  but  plain ; 
the  walls  were  hung  with  full-length  portraits  of  the  Boyal  family.  I  recognised 
George  lY.,  William  lY.,  the  Dukes  of  York  and  Cumberland,  and  several 
others.  After  waiting  about  ten  minutes,  Sir  William  Molesworth  made  his 
appearance ;  he  was*  an  intelligent  and  remarkable  looking  man ;  his  hair  was 
very  light  and  thin ;  he  wore  it  brushed  straight  down ;  it  was  of  unequal 
loigth,  and  seemed  as  though  it  had  never  been  cut;  the  crown  of  his  head  was 
quite  bald.  After  some  desultory  talk  of  about  ten  minutes,  the  folding  doors 
were  thrown  open,  and  Her  Majesty  was  announced  with  Prince  Albert.  They 
immediatclv  entered,  and  came  up  to  us.  We  bowed.  She  had  on  a  littib 
bonnet,  and  was  dressed  remarkably  plain;  the  Prince  also,  like  a  plain  gentleman. 
The  Queen  is  little  in  stature,  not  stout ;  with  a  small  oval  face ;  her  voice  is 
extremely  sweet,  and  she  has  a  good-natured  smile.  Sir  William  Molesworth 
introduced  us.  She  expressed  her  satis&ction  in  seeing  us,  and  put  some  ques- 
tions r^tive  to  Te  Hipango — how  long  he  had  been  baptized — whether  he 
spoke  English — ^whether  he  had  long  worn  English  clothing — what  proportion 
of  the  native  race  had  embraced  Christianity — ^and  how  long  I  had  been  there- 
all  which  queries  I  answered. 

*'  I  then  stated  to  Her  Majesty  the  object  Te  Hipango  had  in  desiring  to  see 
her ;  that  several  tribes  on  the  western  coast  of  New  Zealand  were  anxious  for 
him  to  convoy  the  expression  of  their  attachment  to  her,  and  their  desire  of 
being  considered  as  her  children.  That  thev  had  sent  two  embroidered  mats  as 
specunens  of  their  native  manufacture,  ana  several  weapons  of  war,  as  proo£i 
they  were  no  longer  needed.  That  Hori  Kingi  te  Anaua  had  sent  his  green 
stone  Mere,  the  New  Zealand  emblem  of  sovereignty,  as  a  token  of  his  allegiance 
to  Her  Majesty ;  that  this  was  the  most  valuable  property  he  bad  to  give.  That 
the  finely-embroidered  bag  had  been  expressly  worked  for  her  by  Bawinia,  the 
wife  of  Te  Hipango ;  that  when  she  was  recommended  to  make  it  of  less  dimen- 
sions she  refused,  sayins  it  would  not  be  right  to  make  a  little  bag  for  the 
greatest  lady  in  the  world — the  Queen  smiled.  I  then  presented  the  large  cloak 
made  of  the  feathers  of  the  Kiwi  {apterix  AuttralU),  and  stated  that  it  was  the 
most  singular  bird  of  New  Zealand,  and  likely  soon  to  be  extinct ;  that  it  was 
extremely  rare  to  see  a  cloak  made  of  its  feathers  ;  that  this  present  was  sent  by 
the  Upper  Wanganui  natives,  who  had  hitherto  been  opposed  to  Her  Majesty^ 
Ghovemment ;  that  their  chief  Mamaku  was  one  of  the  commanders  in  the  late 

*  He  U  tinee  dead. 


474  APPENDIX. 

war ;  that  this,  and  an  ancient  weapon  which  had  heen  in  the  family  of  Pehi 
Turoa  for  nearly  a  dozen  generations,  were  sent  as  tokens  of  their  love  to  Her 
Majesty,  and  proofs  they  were  no  longer  enemies,  but  friends.  The  Queen 
put  many  questions  relative  to  the  presents.  She  took  up  the  bag,  and 
inquired  what  it  was  made  of,  and  whether  it  was  manufactured  by  a  machine. 
I  stated  that  it  was  done  by  hand.  She  again  asked  whether  some  instrument 
had  not  been  used.  I  assured  her  it  was  done  entirely  with  the  fingers, 
and  pointed  out  that  both  sides  wore  alike,  and  that  it  was  very  tedious  work, 
haying  taken  more  than  a  year.  The  Prince  examined  the  mats,  talked  about 
the  flax,  and  thought  it  might  be  prepared  by  acids.  This,  I  said,  had 
been  tried,  and  not  found  to  answer,  as  it  decomposed  the  fibre.  He  remarked 
it  was  wrongly  called  a  flax.  I  replied  that  it  belonged  to  the  asphodeUa, 
Sir  W.  Molesworth  remarked  that  New  Zealand  flax  had  been  found  upon  trial 
to  be  capable  of  sustaining  a  much  greater  weight  than  the  Russian,  which  the 
Prince  assented  to. 

The  Queen  particularly  admired  the  green  stone  Mere,  and  took  it  up  sereral 
times  :  she  inquired  the  use  of  it.  I  told  Her  Majesty  it  was  used  not  only  as  a 
sceptre,  but  to  put  an  end  to  unruly  subjects.  She  smiled,  and  asked  how  it 
was  used  for  that  purpose.  I  placed  it  in  Hipango*8  hands,  and  he  explained 
that  they  did  not  strike  with  it  lengthways,  but  pushed  it  into  the  side  of  the 
skull.  The  Prince  remarked  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the  soft  parts 
of  the  head.  She  also  took  up  the  ancient  weapon  of  Pehi,  and  said  it 
did  not  appear  a  yery  dangerous  one.  I  told  her  that  it  easily  fractured 
the  skulL  She  said,  then  they  must  fight  very  close,  and  take  hold 
of  each  other's  hair.  I  replied,  that  was  precisely  the  way  thc^  formerly 
fought.  The  Queen  asked  the  Chief  if  he  had  eaten  the  Kiwi.  He 
answered,  no ;  he  was  a  coast  native,  and  the  bird  was  only  found  in  the 
interior.  I  replied,  that  I  had  repeatedly  eaten  it.  She  inquired  whether  it  was 
good  eating.  I  said  it  was,  and  that  it  tasted  more  like  flesh  than  fowl.  I 
beckoned  to  Hoani  Wiremu  to  speak  ;  he  said  that  from  the  first  coming  of  the 
Europeans  he  had  been  their  friend ;  and  after  he  embraced  the  Christian  faith 
he  felt  they  were  one  with  him ;  that  he  had  always  been  attached  to  Her 
Majesty,  as  she  was  the  Defender  of  the  Faith.  Tlie  Queen  smiled ;  she  bid 
me  assure  him  that  she  hud  always  the  welfare  of  the  New  Zealand  race  at  heart, 
and  also  commanded  me,  when  1  returned  to  New  Zealand,  to  make  her  senti- 
ments known  to  all  the  tribes.  Her  Majesty  desired  me  to  write  every  particular 
of  each  present,  and  label  them ;  that  she  should  send  them  to  Windsor,  to  be 
laid  up  in  her  Armoury. 

Te  Hipango  began  speaking  again.  Her  Majesty,  however,  thinking  she  had 
honored  us  with  a  sufficiently  long  audience,  made  us  a  yery  graceful  bow  and 
retired,  turning  round  and  bowing  again,  and,  as  she  entered  the  next  room, 
making  a  third  bow.  The  Prince  also  gave  a  slight  one.  Thus  ended  our 
audience. 

After  the  Queen  had  retired  to  an  inner  room,  we  remained  with  Sir  W. 
Molesworth,  and  wrote  the  names  and  particulars  of  each  article,  which  were  then 
severally  attached  to  them.  Hoani  said  he  did  not  know  it  was  the  Queen,  and 
scolded  me  for  not  telling  him  ;  the  fact  was,  she  came  in  in  such  an  unostenta- 
tious  way,  with  so  little  appearance  of  State,  that  he  might  easily  be  mistaken. 
Her  Majdsty  and  the  Prince  stood  the  whole  time ;  ind^,  we  were  all  in  one 
group.  She  remained  about  twenty  minutes ;  we  then  took  our  departure,  and 
so  terminated  our  interview. 

We  have  been  permitted  to  see,  in  the  person  of  a  good-natured,  ^oet- 
toned,  nice-looking  little  lady,  the  head  of  the  first  empire  in  the  world,  and 
therefore  must  ever  consider  it  one  of  the  most  interesting  days  of  our  life.  At 
the  palace  door  our  cab  drove  up,  we  wore  handed  in,  and  drove  off,  thus 
bidding  the  palace  adieu,  and  ending  our  first,  and,  in  all  probability,  our  Itmt^ 


APPENDIX.  475 

interview  with  Queen  Yictoria,  our  Most  Ghtunous  Sovereign  :  wo  mingled  again 
in  the  multitude,  and  nothing  remained  but  a  pleasing  recollection,  somewhat 
like  a  daguereot  jpe  of  the  scene,  yiyidlj  and  distinctly  impressed  on  the  mind. 


APPENDIX  L 

TWO   LETTERS  FROM  THE  RELATIVES  OF  MANIHERA   AND 
KEREOPA  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THEIR  DEATH. 

(No.  1.) 

"  Maehe  29, 1847. 
** E  Hoae  te Terra  tenara  koe,  ka  nui  toku  aroha,  atu ki  a  koe, e hoa e  te Teira 
kauA  e  pouri  to  ngakau  ki  tou  Tamaiti  ki  a  te  Manihera,  ki  a  Kereopa  tenei 
ano  te  kupu  a  Tipene  kei  nga  mahi  7.  60  engari  ko  te  utu  mo  raua  ko  to  waka- 
pono  mo  n^  tangata  o  Taupo  i  mea  to  kupu  a  to  karaiti  ki  to  wakairia  a  hau 
ju  runga  aki  i  to  whenua  maku  nga  tangata  katoa  e  kukume  ki  a  hau,  e  hoa  i 
mato  to  tamaiti  ki  to  kawenga  i  to  rongopai,  e  pai  uia  kia  witi  uio  te  rongo  pai 
kia  ratou  ki  Taupo  a  mua  aki  nei.  E  hoa  e  to  matou  hepara,  e  to  roatou  minita, 
e  to  matou  matua,  kia  korero  koe  ki  oku  wanaunga  ki  ou  Tamariki  nga  kai 
wakaako  o  Wan^nui,  kia  to  Wiremu  ki  Apcraniko,  ki  a  Hemi  ki  a  ratou  katoa 
kia  hui  matou  ki  to  matou  mahi  i  karangatia  i  to  Ihupuku  kia  huna  ai  to  matou 
aroha  ki  tou  tamaiti  ki  to  matou  hoa  kua  ngaro  nei  ona  kanohi  ki  a  matou  kia 
waka  nuia  to  matou  rongopai  kia  kaua  e  araia  e  ratou,  he  mea  waka  ngoikore 
ki  waenganui  i  a  matou,  e  hoa,  e  mato  ana  au  kei  toku  ngakau,  kei  toku  UpokOi 
he  kirika  koia  au  i  kore  ai  e  tae  atu. 

'*  na  Hori  Kiwi, 

"  Raitoatapxj." 

(No.  I.) 

March  29,  1847. 
Mt  FBinn),  Mb.  Tatlob, — I  saluto  you ;  great  is  mj  love  for  you.    Friend 
Mr.  Taylor,  do  not  let  your  heart  be  dark  on  account  of  Te  Manihera  and 
Kereopa,  your  children.    This  is  the  word  of  Stephen,  in  the  Acts  vii.  60 ;  the 

frice  of  them  is  the  turning  to  Christ  of  the  Taupo  nation.  Christ  says,  '*  If 
am  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  I  shall  draw  all  men  to  me."  O  Friend !  our 
shepherd,  our  minister,  our  father,  do  you  speak  to  my  brethren,  your  children, 
the  teachers  of  Wanganui ;  to  William,  to  Aperaniko,  to  Hemi,  to  them  all, 
that  we  should  cleave  to  our  work,  to  which  we  were  appointed  at  the  Ihupuku ; 
that  we  should  conceal  our  love  for  your  children,  our  friends,  who  are  departed 
from  our  sight ;  that  we  should  increase  our  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  that  we 
should  not  follow  them  (the  Taupo  natives)  in  anything  which  will  render  ub 
weak.  Friend,  I  am  unwell  in  my  body  and  head.  I  have  a  fever,  therefore  I 
cannot  come  to  see  yoiu  From  Hori  Kiwi, 

Ranga  tafv. 


476  APPENDIX. 

(No.IL) 

*<  Tauranga.  Maehe  28, 1847. 
**  E  Hoa  e  te  Teira  tona  ra  koe  nga  kanohi  o  to  tamaiti  o  to  ManUiera,  k»i 
pouii  o  tana  ngakan  ki  a  ia  e  pai  ana  to  raua  matenga,  i  haere  raoa  i  kawe  i  te 
mgoa  o  Ihu  Earaiti  ki  te  iwi  e  noho  ana  i  te  pouritanga  pohehe  ana  to  wakaaro 
o  tana  iwi  tahuri  mai  ana  ki  to  patu  i  a  rana,  ahakoa  mate,  e  pai  ana  ckoie  e 
mato  to  wakapono  mo  to  kupu  o  to  Atna  me  o  raua  wairua  e  ora  tonn  ake  ake 
ake,  kia  rongo  mai  koe  kahore  matou  e  pouri,  nga  tangata  katoa  o  tenei  iwi  e 
hari  ana  mo  raua,  heoi  ano  ano,  na  ton  Tamaiti  aroha,  na  to. 

"  Habawiba.*' 

No.  n. 

Tawamgay  March  28, 1847. 
Friend,  Mr.  Taylor,  I  saluto  yon,  who  were  the  eyes  of  your  child  of  Te 
Manihera ;  do  not  you  and  I  let  our  hearts  be  dark  for  him,  their  deaths  wore 
good ;  they  went  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  tribe  that  site  in  darkness ; 
mistaken  was  the  thought  of  that  tribe,  it  turned  to  slay  them ;  but  though 
dead,  it  is  welL  The  nith  will  never  perish,  or  the  Word  of  Gt>d — and  their 
■pirite  are  alive  for  evermore.  Hear  me,  we  do  not  sorrow ;  all  belonging  to 
tnit  tribe  rejoice  for  them.    This  is  all  from  your  loving  son, 

Tb  Habawibi. 


INDEX. 


ABOBiGnnns,  their  treatment  by  oivi- 

lized  nations,  2 
Acacia  Cclianthu*  puniceuij^  parrot's 

bill,  207.    KowaL    Edwardsia  mi- 

crophylla,  450 
Ahuriri,  on  the  east  coast,  28,  216, 

217,  244,  339,  462 
Aia,  the  widow  of  Pehi,  828 
Akaroa,  a  French  settlement,  210, 218 
Akira,  his  baptism,  318 
AJatana,  one  of  the  new  Hebrides,  874 
Albert  (Prince),  his  interriew  with  the 

New  Zealand  Chief  Hoani  Wiremu, 

473,  474 
Allan  (John),  423 
American  Episcopal  Chnrch,  805 
Amo,  a  Taupo  chief,  145 
Anonolda,  a  slave,  96 
Aotea,  118—121,  215 
Apiti,  a  term  for  cursing,  94 
Araara,  a  fish,  410,  411 
Arahora,  120 
Arapawa,  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound, 

120,  207,  326 
Ara-tuku-tuku,  progenitor  of  the  Ta- 

niwhas,  50 
Arawa  mountains,  120 
Arero,  the  pa  o^  107 
Arikio,  or  lugh  chiefs,  42, 155, 186 
Arohi*rohi,  which  formeid  the    first 

woman,  18 
Assembly,  G^eral,  met  at  Auckland, 

212 
Atene,  or  Oawitu,  a  village  on  the 

Wanganui,  342 
Atu  ahu,  or  charm,  72,  73 
Atua  Potiki,  or  in&nt  gods,  19,  88, 

186,  225 
Auckland  Isles,  218 


Auckland,  suggested  as  a  capital  by 
Capt.  Cook,  206,  214;    made  the 
seat  of  government,  211 ;  eovem- 
ment-house  burnt,  212 ;  its  locality 
as  a  provinoe,  213  ;  harbour,  214 ; 
trade,  ib.;  craters,  222;  view  o^ 
259 ;  noticed,  252,  273,  279,  887, 
846,  847,  355,  368 
Aukehu  kiUs  a  monster  fish,  52 
Aupouri,  or  North  Cape,  118 
Ante,  the  inner  bark  of  the  Hokeria 

populnea,  137 
Awa,  tidal-river  fish,  411 
Awato,  the  grub  of  a  sphinx  moth,  118 

Babel,  tradition  of  the  dispersion,  68 
Ball,  game  with  an  ornamented,  174 
Ballet  Bock,  near  Evans's  Bay,  472 
Bally  Bock,  ofi*  Point  Jemingham,  281 
Balmoral  estate  in  Scotland,  its  oost, 

264 
Banks's  Peninsula,  218 
Baptismal  receneration  ruled  by  the 

Australian  hishopB,  803,  804 
Baptismal  rites  (Jle  Tohi)    of  the 

aborigines,  74 — 76 
Barrier  Islands,  244 
Basaltic  rocks,  222 
Baskets  used  for  serving  up  food,  55, 

167, 168,  i75 
Bat,  two  kinds  of^  895 
Baths  for  invalids,  221,  222 
Battles  of  the  natives,  258 
Bay  of  Islands,  195,  206,  207,  206, 

209,  210,  214,  221,  243,  270,  273, 

286,  287,  290,  881 ;  declareda free 

port,  211 
Bear,  the  sea  (rapoka),  395 
Beards  condemned  by  the  natives,  151 


478 


INDEX. 


Beetle,  different  varieties,  421,  423 
Bell  found  embedded  under  a  tree,  184 
BiBDS  : — Apterix    AuBtralis     (^K^*)) 

220,396 
Bittern  {nuUuku),  119, 120 
Dinomifl,  220 

Flycatcher  (jnwakeiwaJea)^  27 
Hawk  (kahu),  400 
Hihi,  30 

Hoiho,  the  penguin,  408 
Huia,  150,  400 

Kaiaia,  sparrow-hawk,  37,  400 
Kaka,  brown  parrot,  381,  404 
Kakapo,  or  tarepo,  238,  381,  405 
Kakaiiki,  green  parrot,   131,  161, 

382,404 
Katatai  (rallus  (usimilis),  399 
Kauwau,  or  karuhiruhi,  408 
Kereru,  or  wood-pigeon,  381,  406 
Kiwi  (apUrix  Ausiralu),  220,  238, 

380,  396—398,  473, 474 
Kockoea,  bird  of  passage,  178 
Kohoperoa,  bird  of  passage,  178, 

405 
Koitareke,  or  kokoreke,  400,  406 
Kokako,  the  crow,  30,  117,  403 
Kokoreke,  the  quail,  400,  406 
Korimako,  singing  bird,  75,  402 
Korora,  the  penguin,  406 
Kotare  {halcyon  vagans)^  400 
Kotihe,  honey-bird,  402 
Kotuku,  white  crane,  407 
Koukou,  or  rum,  400 
Matata,  or  koroatito,  403 
Matuku,  or  bittern,  119,  407 
Miromiro,  and  mirotoitoi,  403 
Moa,  or  dinomis,  132, 220, 237, 398 
Moho  periru,  or  motarua,  37,  399, 

400 
Parera,  the  duck,  407 
Paroquet,  the  green,  118, 137 
Patatai,  or  popotai,  399 
Pihoihoi,  404 

Piopio,  bird  of  passage,  403 
Pipiwarauroa,  bird  of  passage,  178, 

406 
Piwaka-waka,  31,  403 
Powakai,  an  immense  bird,  398 
Pukeko  (porphyrio),  37,  118,  123, 

246,399 
Putangitangi,  paradise  duck,  407 
Rallus  dieffenbachii,  399 
Biro-riro,  the  wren,  48,  132,  403 
Sparrow-hawk,  132 
Takahe  {notomU),  399 
Tara,  a  small  sea-bird,  70, 123 


Tarapunga,  407 

Tieke,  30,  404 

Titi,  a  sea-bird,  132,  382,  408 

Tongo-hiti,  39 

Torea,  black  sea-bird,  406 

Toroa,  albatross,  408 

Totoara,  30,  408 

Totoriwai,  400 

Tui,  150,  381,  401 

Weka,  238,  381,  399 

Wio,  the  blue  duck,  407 
Bird-traps,  381 
Bishop's  College,  312 
Bishops  of  Australia,  their  oonfiorenoe 

at  Sydney,  303 
Bishopt's  wig,  its  disuse,  148 
Bligh    (Capt.),    Gh}Tcmor    of    Kew 

South  Walni,  283,  297 
Blood,    payment   for  shedding,  352 

(note) 
BoUny  of  Kew  Zealand,  430^ — 457 
Boulder  Bank  harbour,  Nelson,  265 
Bouleott's  Farm,  350 
Box,  carved,  or  he  papa^  280 
Boyd,  massacre  of  its  crew,  206,  285. 

286,314 
Bread,  process  of  making,  390 — 393 
Bread-fruit  (uri),  183 
Brompton,  its  wreck,  291 
Broughton  (Wm.  Grant),  Bishop  of 

Australia,  294,  299 
Brown  (Ber.  Mr.),  369 
Burial  rites,  97—101 
Burke  (Sir  Bichard),  his  Church  Act, 

304 
Busby  (Mr.),  appointed  British  resi- 
dent, 209 
Butterflies  (pepe),  420 

Cabbage  introduced  by  Capt.  Cook. 

206 ;  cultivated,  378 
CaUfomian  gold  mines,  261,  268 
Cannibalism     abolished,     10,     211 ; 

noticed,  194 
Canoe  preparing  for  sea,  171 
Canoes,  list  of  those  that  brought  the 

first  settlers,  123;   the  first  made 

by  Toto,  124 
Canterbury  Colony  founded,  212,  218L 

237,  264,  462 
Cane  Maria  Van  Diemaa,  the  spirits* 

flyinff  place,  28 
Cartwright  (Rev.  E.),  297 
Cascade  Point,  236 
Caterpillar,  the  bulrush,  422—425 
CaTtll08,208 


INDEX. 


479 


Cavo  near  the  mouth  of  tlio  Mokao, 
394 

Chapman  (Mr.),  missionary,  359 

Charm  for  a  stubborn  woman,  72 

Chasseland  (Thomas),  interpreter,  238 

Chatham  Isles,  its  aborigines,  7; 
noticed,  119 

Cherry  (Capt.)  murdered,  332 

Chief  at  his  meals,  55,  167,  168; 
praying  to  his  god,  62;  tapued, 
eating  with  a  fern-stalk,  55 ;  re- 
ceives three  names  during  life,  156 

Chiefs,  native,  their  treatment  by  the 
British  Gk)vemment,  270—278; 
their  burial,  97 

Christ  Church,  town,  1;  Lyttelton, 
218 

Church  Missionaiy  Society,  its  labours 
in  New  Zealand,  305;  stations, 
209 

Church  of  New  Zealand,  its  future 
constitution,  300—308 

Cloaks  made  of  feathers  of  the  kiwi, 
397,  473 

CUfford  (Mr.),  jun.,  237 

CUmate  of  New  Zealand,  251—255, 

262,  460 

Cloth,  its  ancient  material,  185,   194 
Cloudy  Bay,  330 
Coal  mmes,  236,  244 
Cod  (Hapuku)^  384 
"Columbine,"  a  vessel,  227 
Columbus's  discoveries,  205 
Comb,  or  He  Hero,  218 
Concubinage  practised,  59 
Confirmation  practised  by  the  abo- 
rigines, 76 
Conger  eel  (n^oiro),  412 
Constitution  given  to  New  Zealand, 

212 
Convicts,  t)ioir  employment  on  public 

works,  267,  268 
Convolvulus    (rauparaha)f  used  for 

food,  323 
Cook  (Captain)  visits  New  Zealand, 

5,  6,  19,  133,  190,  194,  195,  206, 

207,  213,  214,  281,  379 
Cook's   Straits    settlement    founded, 

210 ;  noticed,  117,  207,  214,  242, 

263,  294,  324,  325,  417,  471 
Cooking  process  by  the  natives,  389, 

390 ;  at  a  boiling  spring,  250 
Copper  discovered  at  Doubtless  Bay, 

Kawa    Kawa,    and    the    Barrier 

IsLinds,  244 
Coromandel  Harbour,  192,  2^  410 


Corpses,  a  frame  for  them  till  decom- 
posed, 341 

Cowpor  (Rev.  Dr.),  297 

Crab  fish,  415 

Craters  of  New  Zealand,  221—226 

Crayfish  (koura),  383 

Creation,  native  traditions  of,  14 

Crying,  an  amusement !  175 

Crying  children,  how  cured,  165 

Cunningham  (Allan),  the  botanist, 
his  journey  through  a  forest,  5 

Cursing  as  practised  by  the  natives,  94 

Customs  of  the  natives  resembling 
those  alluded  to  in  Scripture,  465, 
466 

Dancing,     a    favourite    amusement, 

174 
Day  made  distinct  from  night,  20 
Dead,  customs  relating  to  the,  97 — 

101 
Deluge,  curious  tradition  respecting 

it,  17,  18 
Despard  (Colonel),  346 
Dillon  (Chevalier  Capt.),  his  testimo- 
nial of  Samuel  Marsden's  labours, 

295 
Discovery  of  New  Zealand,  205 
Diseases,  254—256 
Diving,  an  amusement,  174 
Dog,  the  native,  395 
Doubtless  Bay,  194,  215,  244 
Dreams  vehicles  of  communication, 

74 ;  explained,  160—162 
Drury   (Capt.)  on  the  earthquake  at 

WeUington,  232— 234 
Ducks,  Paradise ;  the  putangi  tangly 

829 
Dunedin,  capital  of  Otako,  218 
Dusky  Bay  tribe,  218,  285,  348 

Ear  ornaments,  150 

Earthquakes  at  WelUngton,  212,  472; 

at  Wanganui,  226—228;   in  the 

islands  of  New  Zealand,  471,  472 
Easter  Isknd,  189, 192 
Ectropium,  complaint  of  the  eyelids, 

254 
Eel  {tuna),  a  dcHcacy,  135, 166,  413 ; 

how  taken  and  cooked,  382,  383 
Evangelical  Alliance,  307 
Eel  cuts,  or  drains  made  from  lakes, 

3ai 
Egmont  (Taranaki),  a  lofty  mountain, 

147,  215,  2-1,2,  269 
Embalming  described,  154 


480 


INDEX. 


Emigration  to  New  Zealand  dnoe  it 
became  a  British  colonj,  218 ;  re- 
commended, 259 — 269;  hints  to  in* 
tended  emigrants,  458--462 

Enau,  a  Christian  native,  358,  859 

Enderby  (Lieut.),  Gk>Temor  of  the 
AucUand  Isles,  212,  218 

England  (Gapt.),  834 

Erebus,  Mount,  225 

Europeans,  their  traffic  in  the  heads 
of  the  natires,  154 

"Every  Man  his  own  Physician,"  a 
French  work,  72 

Eyre  (Lieut.),  GoTemor,  212,  228, 
236,  389 

Fables  of  the  natives,  134—137 
Fairies  in  the  form  of  small  birds, 

115 
Feasts,  or  hakari,  169 
Feegee  and  Maori,   their  points  of 

agreement,  187 
Female  tattoo,  153, 154 
Females,  the  attachment  of  the  gods 

to,  48 
Fern-root,  food  in  winter,  18,  134^ 

135, 166, 168,  183,  337,  379 
Fens  of  Ely  and  Lincoln,  their  fogs, 

427,428 
Fern-stalks,  used  for  play>  173 
Femandes  (Juan)  visits  New  Zealand, 

205 
Fin-back  (Jtaltena  phytalut)^  396 
Fingers,  games  played  with,  178 
Firearms  introduced,  258 
Fish  of  New  Zealand,  382—384,  410 

—418 
Fishing  ceremonies,  83 — 86;  hut,  138 
Fitzroy  (Capt.),  Governor,  211,  271, 

279,  280,  335,  343 
Flax  manufactured,  195, 208, 285, 474 
Flies  (ffiMca),  418,  419,  424 
Food,  its  chief  articles,  166,  377 — 

384 
Food-store  ornamented,  877 
Forest  scenery,  253,  433 
Foveaux*s  Straits,  209,  238 
Friday,  called  bleeding-day,  176 
Frogs,  409,  410 
Funeral  ode  (|mAiY  315 
Furneaux    (Capt.),  massacre  of   his 

crew,  206 
Fuchsia,  a  deciduous  tree,  130,  176, 

243 

Garlick  sowed  by  Marion,  207 


(Genealogies  of  the  aborigines,  15—17 
155 

Genealogical  board,  155, 159 

Geology  of  New  Zealan^  219—245 

George  lY.,  his  interview  with  the 
New  Zealand  chie&,  810 

Gillespies,  murdered,  271,  350 

Gk>ds,  two  grand  orders  o(  15 

Gold  discovered  in  Australia,  212, 
220,  261,  268;  in  Coromandel  Har- 
bour, 244 ;  at  Ahuriri,  ib. 

Government  offices  at  Wellington 
destroyed  by  an  earthquake,  232 — 
235 

Grammar  for  New  Zealand,  208,  310 

Grant  (Cant.)  killed,  847 

Grey  (Earl),  protest  against  his  des- 
patch, 212,  275 

Grey,  (Sir  Gcoige)  Gt)vemor,  211, 
212,  271,  273,  335,  339 

Grose  (Capt.),  Governor  of  New 
South  Wales,  284 

Groves,  sacred  (wahi-tapu),  65, 101 

Haddock  (moib),  412 

Hades,  called  Po,  or  night,  41,   74, 

103,  104,  144, 186,  194 
Haere«awa-awa,    the   father   of  the 

Weka,38 
Hadfield,  (Octavius),  Archdeacon  of 

Ejipiti,  303,  831 
Haha,  an  incantation,  77 
Hahakai,  a  native  antiquary,  193 
Hair-cutting,    ceremonies   connected 

with,  91,  98 
Hair-powder,  its  disuse,  149 
Haka-e-pari,  an  island,  50 
Hakari,  or  feast,  169 
Hake-turi,  flock  of  birds,  116 
Hakitara,  a  Ngapuki  chief,  827 
Hall  TMr.),  musionary,  285,  286 
Hapulni,  or  whapuku,  cod  fish,  411 
Hapurona,  a  chief,  352 
Harakeke  {phormiMm  tenax)^  486 
Hatupatu    captured    by  a   giantess, 

47—49 
Hauraki,  121 

Hawaiki,  the  cradle  of  the  race,  15, 
06,  96, 107, 117, 120, 121, 124, 128, 
147,  178, 192,  193,  377, 378 
Hawaii,  or  the  Sandwich  isles,  19,  41 
Hazlewood  (Rev.  Mr.),  Wesleyan  mi- 
nister, 188 
Heads  of  the  natives  sold  to  Eu- 
ropeans, 154 
Healthiness  of  the  dimate,  258—265 


INDEX. 


481 


HeaveD,  ideas  of  the  natiyes  respect- 
ing, 16,  17 
Hedgehog  {he  kina),  418 
Hekavra,  Hicks's  Bay,  373 
Heke  (Hone),  Chief,  9,  10 ;  cut  down 

the  flagstaff,  211,  273,  342—348 
He    Eowetewete,    an     etymological 

puzzle,  175 
Hekawa,  Hicks'  Bay,  373 
Helme  (St.),  the  lights  of,  429 
Hemapo,  a  oonvert,  364,  369 
He  papa,  or  carved  box,  280 
Herekiekie,  Chief  of  Tokanu,  360, 361, 

864,866 
He  tiki,  monument  of  a  chief,  96 
He  TohL     See  Baptismal  Rites. 
Heuhcu,  Chief  of  Taupo,  engraring  of 
his  tomb,  32,  322 ;  a  splinter  in  his 
foot,  56;  oTerwhelmed  bv  a  land- 
slip, 50,  68,  321;    his  daughter's 
liason,  59  ;  tapued  a  mountain,  60; 
his  wiyes,  165;  monument  at  Fu- 
kawa,  819;  his  influence,  319,  320; 
death,  321 ;  noticed,  13,  156,  158, 
826,  363,  864,  371,  372 
Hick's  Bay,  241 
Hide  and  seek,  a  game,  174 
Hikairo,  Chief  of  Botorua,  366,  367 
Hiko,  the  son  of  Fehi,  327 
Hikurangi,  a  lofty  mountain,  28 
Hikurangi,  taking  leave  of  friends,  160 
Hinaki,  a  Chief,  persuaded  from  visit- 
ing England,  311,  312 ;  killed,  312 
Hina-moki,  the  father  of  the  rat,  33 
Hinau  (elctcarpus),  183,  391,  393 
Hine-nui-te-po,  great  mother  of  night, 

16, 19,  28,  31,  41 
Hine-te-iwaiwa,  her  love  for  Tini-rau, 

108—112 
Hoani  Wiremu,  a  Putiki  chief,  351, 
854,  856;    visits   Queen  Victoria, 
478 
Hobson    (Capt.),    appointed  Consul, 
and  first  Governor  of  New  Zealand, 
210,  270,  278,  294 ;  his  death,  211 
Hohakc,  224 

Hokianga,  river,  128;  heads,  209,  210 
Hokio,  189, 141 

Holland,  New,  its  aborigines,  3 ;  cli- 
mate, 252 
Holmes  (Sir  Everard),  Commander  of 

the  North  Star,  347,  352 
Hongi,  a  celebrated  chief,  81 :  visits 
England,  208,  310 ;  his  savage  dis- 
position,  312,   313  ;    death,   315 ; 
noticed,  258,  287,  842 


Hooker  (Sir  WUliam),  423,  434 

Horokiri  Valley,  212,  337,  351 

Horonguku,  or  sliding  landslip,  158 

Horowhenua,  325 

Hotua  Fou,  or  infant  gods,  19, 186 

Hotu-puku,  a  Taniwha,  52 

House   {he  whare  punt),  a  yiew   of, 

308 
Houses    betoken  a  Japanese  origin, 

185,  387 
Hue,  or  gourd,  a  vegetable,  378 
Huia,  the  daughter  of  Fomare,  157 
Huia-tahi,  a  chief,  360,  363,  369 
Huna,  a  chief,  325 
Hunahuna,  a  village,  314 
Hunter   (Capt.),   GK)vemor  of   New 

South  Wales,  284 
Kurd's  Foint,  209 
Huru,  his  visit  to  Norfolk  Island,  195, 

285 
Huts  of  the  natives,  6,  8 
Hutt  war,   212;    noticed,   217,  281, 

234,  336,  350,  472 

Idol,  memorial,  62 :  of  a  chief  slain 

in  battle,  54 
Isnis  Fatuus,  426 — 429 
Ihi,  Chief  of  the  Taupo  Taniwha,  50 
Ikunikau,  354 

Image  worship,  54,  62,  72,  78 
Inanga,  a  small  fish,  383 
Infanticide,  common,  165 
Influenza,  255 
Ingarani,  England,  158 
Irawaru,  the  father  of  dogs,  26,  38 
Irish  sailor  bewitched,  90  ;  his  cure, 

91 
Iron  sand,  magnetic,  valuable  article 

of  commerce,  243 
Islands  submerged,  242 
Israel,  dispersion  of  its  tribes,  190, 191 
Iwikau  te  Heuheu,  860 

Jack  (Bloody),  Chief  of  the  Ngaitahu, 

329,  330,  349 
Jackson's  adventure  at  Alatana,  374 — 

376 
Japanese  head-dress,  184 
Johnson  (Rev.  R.),  the  first  minister 

of  New  South  Wales,  282 
Jones  (Lieut.),  232,  234 
Judges'  wigs,  still  retained,  149 
Jumping  into  deep  water,  174 

Kae,  his  tragical  story,  112 — 114 
Kahawai,  a  fish,  181,  411 

I    I 


432 


INDEX. 


Kahikatoa,  kahika,  koroi  (podoearpus 

excelstu),  loftj  pine,  130,  439 
Kahikatoa   (leptospenum  scoparium), 

a  small  tree,  131 
Kai  Eoura,  a  mountain,  236,  330, 349 
Kaipara,  156,  214,  313 
Kaitaia  mission  station,  298,  429 
Kai-tangata,  35,  36 
Kakaho,  or  reod,  154, 391 
Kakaramca  mountain,  321 
Kaparat«hau  Lake,  329 
Xapcratcbau,  a  chief,  350 
Kapiti,  an  island,  120,  244,  276,  325, 
327 — 331,  370;   mission  founded, 
210,  279 
Kapo  Wairua,  196 
Karaka  promontory,  329 
Karakia,  its  derivation,  72 
Karamu  (coprosma  lucida),  used  in 

baptism,  75 
Katorore,  a  Taniwha,  58 
Kauatata,  daughter  of  Tiki,  18 
Kauika,  a  chief,  66,  68,  69 
Kauri,  the  pine  tree,   136 ;   timber, 

221,  236 ;  resin,  236 
Kawia,  215 
Eawa-kawa,  244 
£awaka,koaka  (dacfydiumplumo9um) , 

440 
Kawana  Paipai,  his  dream,  162 
Kawhia,  121,  215,  324 
Eawiti,  a  chie^  343—348 
Kemp  (Mr.),  missionary,  316,  317 
Kendal,  (Mr.),  missionary,  208,  285, 

286,  310 
Kercopa,  natiycmissionary  andmartyr, 

358,  360—370,  475 
Kekeringa,  a  chief^  326 
Keri  Kcri,  mission  station,  270,  290, 

309,  316,  317 
King  (George),  pensioned  chief,  274 
King  (GoTemor),  196,  196,  208,  285 
King  (Mr.),  missionary,  285, 286,  288, 

290, 816 
Kiore,  the  rat,  137 

Kirikiri  River,  207.    See  Keri  Keri, 
Kite  flying,  172 
Kohi-kohi,  an  early  race,  119 
Kokohuia,  324 

Kokopu,  a  fresh  water  fish,  383 
Kopi,  earthquake  at,  230,  231 
Kopi  and  koroi,  a  noble  tree,  442 
Koro-kio-ewe,  god  of  childbirth,  34 
Korokoro,  287 

Koromiko    (veronica  salicifolia)f    a 
plant,  75,  79 


Kororareka,  burial  ground  conse- 
crated, 209;  its  flag-staff  cut  down, 
211 ;  noticed,  9,  10,  342—344 

Kotuku,  or  stork,  130 

Kotuku-rae-roa,  a  chief,  319 

Koura,  or  cray-fish,  414,  415 

Kumara,  a  seed,  88, 105 ;  sweet  potato, 
377—379 

Kumara,  the  offspring  of  Rangi  and 
Papa,  18 

Kumukumu,  rook-cod,  185 

Kupe,  the  first  discoverer,  traditionary 
notices  of,  116,  117, 123—126 

Kurangai-tuku,  a  giantess,  47—49 

Kuri,  a  Romanist,  60 

Laburnum  of  New  Zealand,  168 
Lamprey,  a&TOurite  fish,  167,  882, 

383, 412 
Land,  its  minimum  price,  212,  215, 

261—264;  how  held  by  the  naUyea, 

884 
Landmarks,  or  boundary-stonoe,  385, 

886 
Long   (Dr.),   Presbyterian   minister, 

298 
Language,  showing  the  origin  of  the 

New  Zealander,  177—203 
Lattice- work  (arapaki) ,  indicates  skill, 

185 
Lava  courses,  222,  223 
Laye  (Capt.),  352 
Lee   (Professor),    liis    New    Zealand 

Grammar,  208,  310 
Leech,  water  {sanguis  ttga),  421 
Leigh  (Rev.  Mr.),  Wesleyan  minister, 

291 
Leprosy,  248,  255 
Light,  the  period  of,  14 
Limestone,  243  ;  cave,  ih. 
Lion,  the  sea  {phoca  juhata)^  395 
Lizards,  several  kinds,  408,  409 
Locusts  {tarakiki),  419, 421 
Love  songs,  142,  143 
Lovell  (barrack-sergeant),  killed  by  an 

earthquake,  228 
Lyttelton,  or  Port  Cooper,  212,  218, 
237,264 

Mackerel  {kahawa*)^  384 

Macleverty  (Col),  367 

Macquarie  (Capt.),  GoTemor  of  New 

South  Wales,  284 
Maero,  or  wild  man,  49 
Mahometanism,  it«  propagation,  181 
Mai-i-rangi,  66,  68 


INDEX. 


483 


Maize  cultiTated,  379 

Maketu,  a  chief,  61, 90, 355 ;  a  locality, 

121,  277 
Makutu.     See  Witchcraft. 
Mamaku,  a  tree  fern,  379 
Hamaku,  Chief  of  the  Nga  ti  rangi, 

351—357 
Man,  how  formed,  23 
Manawa^pou,  241,  278 
Manawatu  river,  139,  141,  240,  825; 

earthquake  at,  230 
Manga  nui  a  te  Ao,  a  tributary  of  the 

Wanganui,  65,  126,  273 
Manponui  in  Doubtless  Bay,  215 
Mani-a-poto  tribe,  156 
Maniapoto,  a  chief,  145 
3ianih£ra,     a    Christian    chief    and 

martyr,  161,  357—370,  475 
Manukau  harbour,  121,  214,  215 
Maari,  its  etymology,  178;  noticed, 

7,  9.  19,  29,  32,  35,  44,  46,  71,  96, 

119, 162, 178,  196,  200 
Mapera,  a  lake,  tradition  of  its  forma- 

tion«122;  noticed,  222 
Maria  Van  Pieman,  206 
Marikoriko,  or  twilight,  18 
Mariner's  Tonga  Isles,  186 
Marion  du  Fresne,  206,  207 
Marriage  recommended  to  emigrants, 

461 
Mars,  the  planet,  called  Mara,  35  :  see 

Maru 
Marsdcn  (Miss  Mary  Ann),  292 
Marsden  (Bar.  Samuel),  his  early  life, 

282 ;  his  mission  to  Norfolk  Inland, 

283 ;  founder  of  the  New  Zealand 

mission,  285 — 294 ;  his  death  and 

funeral,    295;    his    deroted    ;Eeal, 

295—299 ;  noticed,  195,  208,  210, 

808—312 ;  331,  373 
Mam,  a  god  of  war,  33,  35, 40, 41, 67, 

65 
Mascarin,  massacre  of,  206 
Mason  (Rer.  John),  dirowned,  211 
Massacre  Bay,  236 
Matai,  mai  {dacrydium)^  440 
Matamata,  293 
Mata  te  ra,  193 
Matene  Buta  hung,  157 
Matena  to  Whiwhi,  a  chief,  210,  277, 

331 
Matouri  Bay,  286,  287 
Matthews  (Ber.  J.),  of  Kaitaia,  82 
Matoku,  tradition  of,  115, 116 
Maui,  a  mythological  hero ;  his  mar- 

yellooB  exploits,  23 — 28|  contention 


with  Mauika,  29,  80 ;   his  death, 

31 ;  noticed,  33,  52, 124, 128,  186 
Mauika,  the  father  of  fire,  29,  33 
Maungamuka,  314 
Maungatautari,  323 
Mawae,  a  Futiki  chief,  351 
Mawe  pa,  345 
Meals  of  the  natiyes,  167 
Melbourne,  262 
Melon  cultivated,  378 
Men  with  wings  at  Waitotara,  33,  34 
Merc,  a  stone  battle-axe,  engraving  of 

one,  31,  473,  474;  noticed,  77,  79, 

244,  330,  348;  Wesleyan  station, 

X88 
Meremere,     the    evening   star,    140, 

141 
Meremere  Pounamu,  presented  to  the 

Queen,  244 
Mercury  Bay,  313 
Meteoric  stones,  42 
Meteorological  table  of  London  and 

New  Zealand,  470,  471 
Meteors,  frequent  in  New  Zealand, 

42,  43 
Meurant  (Mr.),  Government  interpre- 
ter, 238 
Mice,  arrival  of  a  colony  of,  213 
Middle  Island,  earthquake  at,  232 — 

239  ;  its  rocks,  244 ;  noticed,  209, 

252,  335,  339 
Miro  (podocarpusferruffinea),  439 
Mission  at  New  Zealand  founded  by 

Samuel  Marsden,  281—299 
Moa  (dinomis),  the  ostrich,  237,  238, 

243,245 
Moa  Upoko  tribe,  325,  326 
Moeone,  a  small  bronze  beetle,  118 
Mokau,  91,  243,  244 
Moko,  or  tattoo,  150—154 
Moko  Titi,  a  lizard  god,  34 
Molesworth    (Sir   Wm.)    introduces 

Hoani  Wiremu  Hipango  to  Queen 

Victoria,  473,  474 
Molyneaux  River,  218,  236 
Monoa,  son  of  Whiro,  69—71,  124 
Months,  grumbling,  168 
Moon,  the  natives   idea  of  its  spots, 

95 ;  used  for  reckoning  time,  175 

— 178;    its    twenty-eight    nights, 

177 
Moses  Tawai,  a  chief,  343 
Mottoes,  146, 147 
Motuapuhi,  325 
Motu    Karamu,     German     Mission 

station,  60 

I  I  2 


484 


INDEX. 


Motu  Taiko,  a  Bmall  island  in  Lake 

Taapo,  204 
Motu  Tawa,  a  small  island,  324 
Motutere,  359,  360,  367 
Moutohora,  Whtilo  Island,  223 
Muka  Muka  rocks,  230 
Mumuhanga,  the  father  of  the  To- 

tara,  33 
Murderers*  Bay,  why  so  named,  206 
Muscle   (kuku)   used  for  food,  183, 

883,  417 
Musical  pipe  (he  koauau)^  147 
Musk-rat,  394 
Mythology  of  New  Zealand,  12—54 

Names,  native,  have  always  a  signifi- 
cation, 155 

Natural  Iiistory  of  the  isUnds,  394 — 
429 

Neck  ornaments,  150 

Nelson  settlement  founded,  211,  217, 
218,  330,  332—335 

Nene  (Walker),  pensioned  chief,  274 

New  South  Wales,  267 

New  Testament  first  printed  at  Pa- 
ihia,209 

New  year  celebrated,  93 

Ngae,  a  mission  station,  53 

Nga  Hui,  tradition  of,  120 

Ngahurus'  Lament,  14-1 

Ngoitahu  tnbe,  326,  327,  329 

Nga  puhi,  a  tribe,  147,  331 

Nga-rangi-hore,  the  father  of  stones, 
33 

Ngarara,  the  lizard,  136 

Nga  te  rau  kawa  tribe,  326 

Nga  ti  apa  tribe,  325,  326 

Ngatiawa,  natives  of  Otaki,  42,  325, 
329,  330 

Nga  ti  haua  tribe,  355 

Nga-ti-mamoe,  inhabitants  of  lofty 
mountains,  49 

Ngatimaniapoto,  a  tribe,  145 

Ngatimaru  tribe,  144,  145,  147 

Nga  ti  paoa,  a  tribe,  147 

Ngatiraukawa  tribe,  169 

Nga  ti  ruaka  tribe,  326,  351,  352, 
355 

Nga  ti  ruanui  tribe,  277,  278,  326, 
358,  364—366,  368 

Ngatitoa,  325 

Ngatiwhatua  tribe,  156 

Nicholas  (Mr.),  285,  286 

Night,  the  period  of,  14 ;  made  dis- 
tinct from  day,  20;  divided  into 
three  decades,  177 


Nikau  (jareca  tapida)^  434 

Niu,  or  divination  by  sticks,  69,  74, 

gi 93 

Norfolk  Isknd,  195 
North  Cape,  285 
Nota,  or  north  star,  157 
Nursery  song,  139 

Obsidian,     instrument     for     cutting 

hair,  93 
Ochre  and  oil  much  used,  149 
O'Donohu,  the  bush-ranger,  executed, 

297 
Ohaiawai,  350 

Ohau,  a  creek,  139, 141,  228,  325 
Ohinemotu,  223 
Onga  onga  (urticecB),  441 
Orakokorako,  on  the  Waikato,  223 
Oreu  moa  bay,  329 
Orawaro,  near  Pakerau,  51 
Ornaments  for  the  person,  148 — 155 
Orono,  deity  at  Hawaii,  19 
Ostrich,  or  Moa,  237 
Otaliuhu,  121 
Otake,  engraving  of  the   church   at, 

65 ;  noticed,  42,  90,  139, 141,  277, 

335,  337 
Otako,    a    Scotch    settlement,    211, 

218,  26  (,  462 
Otauo,  near  the  Bay  of  Islands,  221 
Oulad    Kiahs,    mountain    tribe,    9; 

massacred,  10 
Ovens  of  the  natives,  389,  392 
Owa,  the  father  of  the  dog,  33 
Owl,  its  various  names,  196 
Oyster  (pstrcBo),  417 

Faerau,  a  region  of  Hades,  144 

Paeroa,  near  the  Waikato,  223 

Page  (Lieut.),  351 

Pahiko,  tlie  father  of  the  Kaka,  33 

Paihia  mission  station,  209,  291,  294 

Pakakutu,  326 

Pa  Karaka,  volcanic  cone,  222 

Palm  tree  (ni-kau),  182 

Panakareao,  the  name  of  the   head 

chief  of  the  Rarawa,  156 
Papa,  or  carved  dish,  169,  170 
Papa,  or  earth,  the  god  of  light,  16 — 

22,  33 
Papaiti,  355 

Papanoko,  a  scaleless  fiah,  383 
Paradise,  its  etymologv,  182 
Parahia,  a  dimmutivekind of  Bpixutoh^ 

133 
Parapara,  a  native  village,  193 


INDEX. 


iS6 


Parata  Gulf,  118 

Parauri,  the  father  of  the  Tui,  33 

Paripari,  141,  244 

ParramatU,  299 

Parson  (tut),  401 

Pataka,  sacred  stages  for  the  dead,  95 

Patea,  116,  119, 120,  141,  242 

Patiarero,  132 

Patuone,  315 

Patu  paearehe,  fairy  giants,  46 — 49 

Patutokotoko  tribe,  355 

Paoa-talia-nui  pa,  212,  337,  351 

Paul  (St.),  a  mountain,  2^i3,  431 

Pauley  (George),  238 

Paulnier  (Sieur  Binot),  discoyerer  of 

New  Zealand,  205 
Peel   (Mr.),    founder  of  Swan  rirer 

settlement,  266 
Pehi,    a  chief,  325—328,  331,  335, 

474 
Pekehaua,  a  Taniwha,  53 
Penny  an  Aero  Act,  279 
Pepper  tree  (piper  exceUum),  181 
Pepper  tree  (horopito),  437 
Peter  (St.),  a  mountain,  243 
Petoni  Road,  231 
Philippine  Isles,  205 
PhilUp    (Capt.),    Governor  of    New 

South  Wales,  284 
PhUpott  (Lieut.),  344,  347 
Piako  river,  214 
Pianga,  a  mountain,  225 
Pigeons,  168 
Pigs  introduced  into  New  Zealand, 

195,208,285 
Pihanga  explained,  69 
Pines,  130,  437—441 
Piporaceffi,  two  kinds,  437 
Pipiri,  chief  priest  of  Motutere,  50 
Piripai,  247 

Piripi,  a  Christian  teacher,  368,  369 
Pitama,  the  murderer  of  the  Gilles- 

pies,  271 
Pknts  of  Now  Zeahmd,  430—435 
Plymouth  (New),  or  Taranaki,  a  pro- 
vince, 211,  215,  279,  462 
Po,  or  night,  the  name  for  Hades,  41, 

74,  103,  104,  186,  194 
Point  Jemingham,  231 
Polygamy,  164 
Polynesian  race,  its  close  connexion 

with  the  natives  of  New  Zealand, 

466—468 
Pomare  on  board  the  North    Star, 

157 ;  noticed,  345 
Pomegranate,  its  luxuriaooe,  218 


Pompalier  (Bishop),  and  the  Bx>mish 

mission,  210 
Population,  256—258,  263,  468 
Porirua  Harbour,  212,  217,  332,  336, 

389,  351,  359 
Poroutawao,  337,  339,  351,  359 
Port  Cooper,   Canterbury  colony  at, 

212,  218,  237,  264 
Port  Nicholson,  28,  123,  332 
Potato  introduced  by  Captain  Cook, 

190 ;  bv  Governor  King,  208 ;  cul- 
tivated," 377 
Potiki,  infant  gods,  105 
Poto,  song  to,  157 
Poultry  introduced  into  New  Zealand, 

196 
Pounamu,    a    rock    of   the   Middle 

Island,  241 
Pounamu,  or  green  stone,  120 
Poutama,  head  chief,  91 
Poutu,  3G9 
Pouwhaitero,  the  green  parrot,  118, 

137 
Powers  (Andrew),  his  tragical  story, 

370—373 
Pre-emption,  or  land  sold  only  to  the 

crown,  278—280 
Presbyterian  colony,  211 
Prinling-officos  at  Wellington,  217 
Prodigal  son,  an  apt  illustration  of 

the  aborigines,  8 
Propagation   Society,   its  labours   in 

Now  ZcaUnd,  305 
Proverbs,  or  Wakatauki,  126-  134 
Prow  of  a  war  canoe,  125 
Puckey  (Mr.),  catechist,  82,  313 
Puha,  a  war  song,  80 
Pukawa,  Taupo,  319,  360,  363 
Pukemacpau,  limestone  cave  at,  2  i3 
Pukenui,  a  volcanic  hill,  122,  222 
Puke  Tapu  Atene  on  the  Wanganoi, 

burial-place  at,  179 
Pumpkin  cultivated,  378 
Punga,  the  father  of  the  shark,  33 
Puni  punl,  a  game  with  the  fingers 

173 
Puoho,  chief  of  Nga-ti-tama,  330 
Puratawa,  276 
Purua,  324 

Puta,  priest  of  Taupo,  42 
Putaia,  alull,  122,  222 
Putiki  tribe,  227,  324,  326,  351,  352, 

854,  363,  368,  371 
Putu,  or  song  of  invitation,  175 

Banga  tapu,  194,  475 


486 


INDEX. 


Bangatira,  224. 

Bang!,  the  first  conTcrted  chief,  291 

Bangi,  or  heaTon,  the  god  of  light,  16 

—22 
Bangiatea,  a  mountain  of  llawaiki^ 

147 
Bangihaeata,  a  chief,  252,  271,  276, 

277,    325,    826,    333—341,    850, 

351,  359 
Bangihu,  in  the  Bay  of  Islands,  208 ; 

the  first  missionary  station,  287 — 

289,  293 
Bangi  mairehau,  chief  of  Turakina, 

325 
Bangipo  i^oad,  326,  367 
Bangi  riri,  a  fountain,  95 
Kangitakoru*s  nursery  song,  139 
Bangitikei,   a  rirer,  141,   227,  240, 

326,  335,  386,  339 
Bangiwakaurua's  Lament,  143,  144 
Bapa,  a  valley  of  the  Taupo  Lake, 

320,  321 
Barawa  tribe^  156 
Bat,  manner  of  hunting  it«  87 — 89 ; 

an  article  of  food,  380 ;  different 

species,  895 
Bata  tree,  393 
Bauparaha,  chief  of  the  Nga-ti-rauka- 

wa,     212,     258,    823—338,    840^ 

841,  349»  39S 
Baupo,  or  bulrush,  379 
Bawiri  Fuaha,  334 
Beay  (Rev.  Mr.),  396 
Bed  (kura)  a  sacrod  colour,  66,  95| 

96 
Beinga,  entrance  to  Hades,  41,  42  i 

engraving  of  it,  97 ;  its  etymology, 

103  ;  noticed,  103—106,  160,  161, 

813,  828«  860,  374 
Bemutaka  forest,  837 
Bepe  repe   {ecUlorynchus  AustraUa)^ 

429 
Beptilo  gods,  a  list  of,  67 
Bcretawangawanga,  chief  of  Waika- 

nae,  his  monument,  11 
Besin  manufacture  of,  151 
Bimu  (dac/ydium  cupressinum),  441 
Bimurapa,  28 
Boads  required,  273 
Bobertson  (Capt.),of  the  "Hazard," 

343,  344 
Bocks  of  New  Zealand,  242—244 
Bona,  a  cliief,  95 

Bongo,  the  father  of  the  Eumara,  83 
Bongo-mai,  chief  god  of  Taupo,  33, 

84,  40,  42 


Bongo  rongo,  28 

Bopa,  derivation  of,  164 

Bore,  a  chief,  killed,  324 

Boto-aira  Lake,  224,  324,  d69,  371 

Boto  Kakahi,  824,  327 

Botokawa,  224 

Botomahfl^a,  a  warm  water  lake,  224| 

243 
Botorua,  52,  53,  147,  223,  224,  277« 

294,  313,  859,  866,  867,  372 
Botu,  or  charm,  to  cause  sleep,  119 
Bu,  the  father  of  lakes  and  rivers,  13^ 

19,  32,  146 
Bua,  an  early  settler^  133 
Buapehu,    a   lofty    mottntain^    216« 

225 
Buapekapeka  pa,  847 )  its  model  sent 

to  the  Great  Exhibition,  ib, 
Buatara,  287,  288,  293 
Buhei  a  chiefs  846 
Bum,  designated  water  brought  from 

heaven,  133,  207 
Bupo,  the  £fttber  of  the  pigeon,  3Bf 

110—112 
Bussell,  the  seat  of  Goremmeat,  210, 

211 
Butherford  (Hr.),  his  preservation, 

208 

St.  John*B  Wood,  the  battle  of,  356 
Sandal,  or  snow  shoe,  203 
Sandwich  IsleSf  85 
Sans<srit  and  Maori,  affinity  betweeni 

184 
Saturday,  or  washing-day,  176 
School  for  natives,  800 
Scott,  of  Tauranga,  a  trader,  872 
Seal  (phocida),  895 
Seaaons  of  the  year,  178 
Sedimentary  deposits,  240 
Selwyn  (Dr.  George  Augustus),  Bishop 

of  New  Zealand,  95,  209,  212,  255^ 

808,  345 
Settlers*  journey  along  the  west  coast 

of  the  Middle  Island,  4 
Shark   (manffo),  a  winter  food,  384^ 

412 
Sharks*  teeth  used  for  ear  oniament8« 

150 
SheUs  of  New  Zealand,  415, 416 
Shoe,  a  snow,  203 
Shortland  (Lieut.),  Acting  Governor, 

211 
Sickness  making  person  tapu,  61 
Skipping-rope,  a  game,  172 
Snapper  (tamiire)^  884 


INDEX. 


487 


Son^,  extract  from  an  old,  67  ;  used 

whilst  tattooing,  152 
Songs  of  the  natiyee,  138 — 145 
Spade,  or  Ako,  258 
SpeUs  and  incantations,  70 — 73 
Spiders  {punga  werewere),  418 
Springs,  hot,  222,  223,  245—250 
Staff  of  a  chief,  299 
Stalactites,  243—245 
Stanley  (Capt.)  plants  the  British  flag 

at  Akaroa,  210  ;  commander  of  the 

"  CaUiope,"  337 
Stannard  (Rev.  George),  29 
StatenLand,  206 
Stewart   (Capt.),   commander  of  the 

"Elizabeth,"  327—329 
Stewart's  Island,  218 
Stick  throwing,  an  amusement,  173 
Sticks,  divination  bj  (ntii),  69,  74,  91 

—93 
Stone    (Rey.    Mr.),     Incumbent    of 

Guiselcj,  the  first  patron  of  Samuel 

Marsden,  282 
Sugar-loaf  rocks,  242 
Summer  in  New  Zealand,  176,  178 
Sunday,  called  Te  Wiki,  176 
Swan  KiTer  Settlement,  266 
Swinging-poles,  173 
Sydney,  262,  290,  291,  295,  811 

Taaroa,  creator  of  aU  things,  19 

Tahaiti,  41,  192,  205 

Tahana,  native  teacher,  358 

Tahoraparoa,  144 

Tahu,  author  of  all  good,  18,  33 

Taiaha,  or  chiefs'  staff,  299 

Taiamai  phun,  222,  346 

Taiaroa,  330,  331,  335 

Taimaro,  194 

Taipo,  an  imaginary  creature,  49 

Takerei  (Earl  Grey),  158 

Taki,  its  different  meanings,  197 

Tamai  hara  nui,  327—329,  335 

Tamaki,  121,  214 

Tamamutu,  his  capture,  50 

Tama  tc  Kapua,  traditions  of,  121 

Tamihana  Katu,  331 

Tamihana   te    Baupahara,   Christian 

c»nvert,  168,  210,  373 
Tamorangi,  a  chief,  290 
Tanaure-ure,  a  cave,  243 
Tane,  the  parent  of  birds  and  trees, 

13,  32,  33,  84 
Tanekaha,  tawaiwai,  a  tree,  438 
Tane  Mahuta,  the  offspring  of  Bangi 

and  Papa,  18—23 


Tangaloa,  creator  of  all  things,  19, 28, 

186 
Tangi,  or  wail,  102,  103 
Tangaroa,  father  of  fish,  13,  19,  21, 

33,  84—87,  186 
Taniwha,  an  immense  fish,  49 — 53, 

821 
Tapo,  a  priest,  1 18 
Tapouka,  or  "  Old  Wig,"  chief  of  the 

Middle  Island,  348 
Tapsall,  a  Norwegian,  the  first  Euro- 
pean who  married  a  native  woman, 

373 
Tapu,  a  religious  observance,'  55—64, 

288,  317 ;  its  disuse,  58,  64 ;  how 

to  render  a  place  tapu,   57,   60; 

enforced  by  the  ^ill  of  the  chief, 

63 ;   in  some  instances  beneficial, 

•64  ;  form  for  taking  it  off,  78 
Tapued  chief  eating  with  a  fern-stalk, 

55,  167,  168 
Tapuae,  371 
Tapuaenuko  hill,  236 
Tapuanikau,  324 
Tara,314 

Tara  (George),  a  chief,  286 
Tara-hunga,    father    of    the     Maui 

family,  24 
Taraia,  the  last  cannibal,  211 
Taramea,  a  plant,  237 
Taranaki,  loHy  mountain,  147,  207, 

211,  215,  225,  241,  242,  244,  252, 

269,    278,    324,   326,     832,    371, 

462 
Tararua  ranf;e,  24'li 
Tarata,  a  boihng  spring,  248 
Tarawcra  Lake,  146,  216,  247 
Tareha,  a  Nga-pulii  chief,  316—318 
Taringa-here,  a  being  with  a  face  Uke 

a  cat,  49 
Taro,  a  seed,  100,  185,  377,  378 
Tasman  (Abel),  visits  New  Zealand, 

205,206 
Tattoo,  or  moka,  150—154,  194 
Tattooed  head,  148,  310 
Taunui,  principal  chief  of  Mokau,  56, 

89 
Taupiri,  an  isolated  mountain,  28 
Taupo,  28,  81,  120,  161,  214,  216, 

223,  226,  244,  277,  319,  320,  324, 

358,  359,  361,  367,  368,  371,  372 
Taupo  chiefs,  genealogical  table  of, 

469 
Taupo  Lake,  145, 150,  204,  219,  224, 

225,  319 
Taupos,  48,  81 


488 


INDEX. 


Taupo  Taniwlia,  50,  94 
Tauranga,  120,  209,  215,  294,  398 
Tautek^  a  i  aupo  chief,  319,  358 
Tauwara,  a  Iiigh  mountain,  145 
Tawaki,  his  mythical  history,  17,  33, 

35—40 
Tawirimatea,  father  of  tho  winds,  19, 

20,33 
Taylor  (Mr.),  letters  of  Banga  tapu 

to  him,  475 
Teka,  a  game  with  fern-stalks,  110 
Temple  of  the  tribes  described,  65 — 70 
Tepuna,  289 
Thames,  a  river,  142, 165,  190,  209, 

214,  215,  293,  294,  312,  313 
Thierry  (Baron  de),  an  adTenturer, 

209 
Thicring,  the  gods  of,  69 
Thompson  (Capt.),  commander  of  the 

Boyd,  208 
Thought,  its  epoch,  14 
"  Three  Kings,"  or  lava  courses,  222, 

285 
Ti  (cordeline  Auttralit)^  435 
Tihoi,  324 

Tiki,  the  father  of  man,  18, 19,  23,  33 
Tikihcmi,  or  eel  trout,  383 
Tikitere,  223 
Timber  (Kauri),  221 
Time,  how  reckoned,  176 
Tini-rau,    a  great  chief,  tradition  of 

him,  107—114,  167 
Tino  ariki,  or  chief  priest,  75 
Tirah,  a  meal  given  by  the  Rajah  of, 

167 
Titapua,  a  submerged  island,  242 
Titihai,  god  of  the  ankles  and  feet,  3-1 
Toa,  or  warrior,  79 
Toliunga,  or  priest,  42,  98 
Toliora,  the  whale,  136 
Toi  (dracena  indimsa),  435 
Toitoi  stalks  used  as  a  game,  173 
Tokanu,  224,  360,  361,  364,  368 
Tokumaru  natives,  208 
Tologa  Bay,  206 

Tonga,  7,  9,  19*  28,  3i,  41, 186—188 
Tongariro,  a  lofty  mountain,  28,  60, 

134,  215,  216,  223—226,  244,  252, 

322,  310 
Topi,  a  chief,  349 
Toronaihi  explained,  201 
"Tory,"  tho  firBt  ship  of  the  New 

Zealand  l^ind  Company,  332 
Totara  (podocarpus)^  439 
Totara  trees,  237,  241 
Toto,  the  maker  of  the  first  oanoe,  124 


Treaty  of  Waitanei,  210 

Tribes  of  New  Zetdand,  468 

Tu,  a  god  of  war,  33,  80 

Toahu,  a  short  stone  pillar,  73 ;  or 

altar,  94 
Tua-riki,  or  little  gods,  49 
Tuatanga,  or  naming  a  child,  75,  112, 

156 
Tuatara,  the  guana,  135 
Tuatini,  a  fish,  136 
Tuhuruhuru,  a  chief,  110—112 
Tuki,  his  visit  to    Norfolk    Island 

195,  285 
Tukupuarangi,  or  the  Cloudy  Atmos- 
phere, 247,  248 
Timiata-uenga,  or  Tutenganahau,  19, 

20 
Tumatua,  135 
Tumuwakairia,  a  principal  chief  of  the 

Mani-a-poto,  156 
Tuna,  the  eel,  135, 166,  382,  413 
Tupaia,  the  Tahaitian  chief,  207 
Tuparaunui,  a  large  fly,  121 
Tuparitapu,  god  of  consumption,  84 
Tupeke,  or  invocation,  61;   a  war- 

dancei  80 
Tupuna,  155 
Turakina  river,  140,  211 
Turakiraei  a  mountain,  28 
Turanga  pito,  325 
Turi,  an  early  settler,  117—120,  123, 

124,  139,  141 
Turkev-cock  venerated  by  tho  natiyes, 

53  ' 
Turnip,  introduced  by  Capt.  Cook, 

206 ;  cultivated,  378 
Turoa,325 

Turuki  {cordeline  Hrieta)^  435 
Turutu,  374 

Turuturu,  a  pole  with  a  cross,  152 
Tu-tangata-kino,  god  of  the  stomach, 

84 
Tutemanoa,  the  father  of  the  Kahi- 

katoa,  33 
Tute-nga-nahau,  the  father  of  evil,  83 
Tute  ou  nuku,  329,  330,  349 
Tutu  {coriaria  aarmentoea),  its  juioe, 

161 
•Tuwairore,  the  father  of   the  £ah- 

katea  and  Rimu,  33 
Tuwhare,  head  chief  of  the  Ngati* 

whatua,  156,  324 

Uaua,  Cook's  spring  at,  206 
Uenuku,  god  of  the  rainbow,  41,  117 
134 


lNDE3t. 


489 


TJira,  &  lady  of  nink,  145 

Yallies  of  New  Zealand,  240 
Ventriloquists  (Mata  Kita),  43—46 
Yictoria  (Queen),  158;  her  Bupremacy 

acknowledged,  210  ;  interview  with 

Wiremu  Hipango,  473 
Victoria  province,  267 
Volcanoes,  221—223,  242 

Waero,  a  Nga  Puhi  chief,  324 
Waharaupo,  327,  331,  336 
Waheroa,  a  great  chief,  115 
Wahi-tapu,  or  sacred  grove,  65, 101 
Wakapiri,  the  son  of  Puoho,  330 
Waiapa,  near  the  East  Cape,  28,  194, 

243  398 
Waianki,  360,  361,  366,  417 
Waiawa,  286 
Waiho  island,  189 
Waikanae,  140,  141,  276,  325,  335, 

339,  351 
Waikato,  a  chief^  visits  England,  208, 

310 
Waikato  river,  145,  147,  209,  214, 

215,  223,  244,  277,  293,  318,  866 
Waikowau,    engraving    of    the    old 

priest  of,  1 
Waa  (tanffi)  for  the  dead,  102, 103 
Wai  Marino,  a  Christian  pa,  860,  367 
Wainiate,  Bay  of  Islands,  122, 195 ; 
residence  of  the  Bishop,  211,  331, 
843 — 845,  347  J    college  founded, 
211 ;  missionaiy  station,  331 
Wai-mca    (from     mehameha)^    141, 

825 
Waimea  valley,  218 
Waingaroa,  215 
Waiohipara,  143 

Waioratane,  the  river  of  death,  104 
Waipa,  a  river,  313 
Waipaihi,  145 
Waipakura,  355 
Wairaka,  140,  141 
Wairake,  boiling  springs  near  Taupo, 

219 
Wairarapa,  the  river  of  jojfiilness,  28, 
140, 141,  216,  217,  230,  231,  324, 
339,  472 
Wairau  Valley,  the  battle  at,   211, 

833—335 
Waiiere,  120 
Wairewarewa,  359 
Wairo,  a  chief,  327, 331 
Wairoa  river,  214,  472 
Wairota,  193 


Waitaha,  a  courageous  tribe,  127 

Waitaha-nui,  371 

Waitangi,  grand  Council  at,  210, 270, 

275 
Wai^te^mata,  now  Auckland,  211 
Waitiri,  grandmother  of  Tawaki,  85, 
36,  38—40 

Waitotara,  its  population,  256;  no- 
ticed, 29,  33,  34,  93,  225, 241,  819, 
359,  360 

Wakaahu,  a  Wanganui  chief,  156 

Waka-ari,  White  or  Sulphur  Island, 
142,  223 

Wakarau,  a  chief^  819 

Waka-rewa-rewa,  a  hot  spring,  49 

Wakatauki.    See  Provem, 

Waka-tu.     See  Nelton. 

Wakatupa,  120 

Wakefield  (Capt.),  834,  385 

Wake-tane,  121 

Walker  Nene,  a  chid^  843,  345, 
346 

Wangu^ehu  (the  splashed  mouth),  a 
river,  140 

Wanganui  mission  and  pa,  46,  52, 
58,  90,  126,  139—141,  146,  168, 
210—212, 215, 216, 223—230, 240, 
241,  244,  252,  257,  263,  273,  277, 
281,  299,  313,  319,  323—326,  832, 
337,  339,  352,  357,  359,  368,  373, 
462 

Wanganui  Heads,  355 

Wanganui,  Upper,  357,  473 

Wanganui-a^te^ao,  371 

Wangaparaoa,  118, 120, 121 

Wangape,  a  sketch  near,  289 

Wangaree  district,  184 

Wangarei,  a  port  to  the  north  of  Auck- 
knd,  214 

Wangaroa,  195,  208,  209,  215,  222, 
241,  248,  286,  291,  308 ;  view  of 
the  harbour,  309;  Wesleyan  mia- 
sion  station,  314 

Waokena,  357,  358,  368 

Wapuku,  the  ood-fish,  135 

War  ceremoniee,  76 — 82 

War  weapon,  engraving  of  one,  822 

Warm  lake,  Roto  Mahana,  224,  245 

Wata,  food  stores  or  stages,  109 

Watanui,  native  warrior,  326 

Waterfall  at  Papa  Boa,  323 

Water  scoop  for  a  canoe,  137 

Watutureiarua,  the  first  person  who 
made  bread  from  the  hinau,  393 

Weaving  known  to  the  aborigines,  185 

Wellington  provinoe,  216,  217,  252, 


490 


INDEX. 


273, 851 ;  earthqnaket  at,212, 228— 
235,  472 

Wen,  a  chief  warrior,  395 

Werowero,  a  chief,  274 

WesWan  station  at  Wangaroa,  209 1 
at  Hokianga,  209 

Wetu,  assaults  on  European  sailors, 
370,  871 

Whale  Island,  223 

Whales  {bal<Bnida)y  396 

Whalers  first  risit  New  Zealand,  208 

Whanau  Moana,  parent  of  the  winged 
race,  34 

Whare^kura,  or  great  temple,  de- 
scribed, 66 — ^71 

Whareroa,  its  population,  266)  no- 
ticed, 357 

Whau  (entelia  ctrboretoens),  a  light 
wood,  187 

Wheat  first  sown  at  Kapo  Wairua, 
196;  cultivated,  379 

Whipping-top  game,  172 

Whiro,  god  of  lightning  and  thunder, 
41,  67—70 

White  Island,  in  the  Bay  of  Plenty, 
142,  223 

Wife,  a  battle  for  one,  163 

Wigs,  remarks  on,  148 — 150 

Wifiiam  lY.,  letter  to  him  for  protec- 
tion, 209 

Williams  (Messrs.),  missionaries,  291; 
292 

Williams  (Rev.  H.),  missionary,  331 

«  Will  o'  the  Wisp '» in  the  Fens,  428 

Wind,  indicates  a  god's  presence,  78 

Windsor,  Wesleyan  chapel  at,  298 

Winter  in  New  Zealand,  176,  178, 
252,  467 

Winyard  (Col.),  acting  GoTemor,  212, 
847 

WiremuEmeraTauri,  natire  teacher, 
821,  368 

Witchcraft  (makutu),  89—91, 188 

Witi,  a  cannibal,  tnwlition  of,  115, 
116 

Woman,  creation  of  the  first,  18 


Words,  a  phUobgicallist  of,  198—200 

traced  to  their  roots,  201—203 

Wrestling,  an  amusement,  173 

Year  counted  by  moons,  177 ;  begins 
with  May,  178 

Zealand  (New),  why  so  named  by 
Abel  Tasman,  206 1  called  Nukuroa 
and  Uku-rangi,  118 ;  and  Ac  tea 
toa,  124;  its  new  constitution,  212; 
proTUices,  213  j  dose  connexion  be- 
tween its  natives  and  the  Polynesian 
race,  466— 468 

Zealand  (New),  native  talent  of  its 
aborigines,  4—6;  their  deteriora- 
tion, 7;  emigrations,  7,  8;  canni- 
bals, 10 1  mythology,  12 — 54;  ge- 
nealogies, 16—17;  gods,  33,  42,43; 
tapu  institution,  55—64 ;  their  great 
temple,  Ware-kura,  66 — 70;  reli- 
gious worship,  72,  73;  baptism, 
74 — 76;  war  ceremonies,  77 — 82; 
fishing  ceremonies,  83 — 86 ;  witch- 
craft, 89—91 ;  burial  rites,  97— 106 ; 
traditions,  107—122;  canoes,  123; 
proverbs,  126—134;  fables,  184— 
137  )  songs,  138 — 145  ;  mottoes, 
146  ;  personal  ornaments,  148 — 
154 ;  dreams,  160 ;  marriage,  163 ; 
polygamy,  164;  children,  165; 
feasts,  169 ;  amusements,  171 ; 
time,  how  reckoned,  176 ;  their 
origin,  as  traced  by  their  lan- 
guage, 179—208  ;  history,  204 — 
218;  geology,  218—245;  climate, 
251 ;  Christianity  introduced,  281 
—299  ;  Church  established,  300  ; 
food,  166,  377—384 ;  land,  384— 
386;  natural  history,  394—429; 
botany,  430 — 167 

Zealand  (New)  Colonization  Company, 
209 

Zealand  (New)  Land  Company,  209, 
210,  263,  264,  332—334 


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containing  some  Bemarks  upon  the  Theory  of  Professor  Lee. 

By  the  Bev.  Waltbb  CHAKBBBLAnr,  M.A.,  Perpetual  Curate  of  the  new 

parish  of  8t.  John's^  Little  Bolton,  Lancashire. 


2  WORKS   RECENTLY    PUBLISHED   BY 

AUertan  and  Dreux ;  or,  the   War  of  Opinion.      By  the  Author 

of  "A  Bhyming  Chronicle."   In  two  vols.,  10*.  6d.,  neatly  bound  in  doth. 

*'  Written  in  an  elegant  yet  unaffected  atjlep  and  at  timet  with  a  geniality  and  quaintneaa 
of  humour  that  i»  highly  amu«lng. "—CAurc*  of  England  Quarterly. 

**  Deserving  of  high  praiae  fbr  iti  picture*  of  rural  acenery,  ita  portndts  of  manners,  and 
iti  exhibition  of  provincial  society. "—5ptfr/ator. 

Sermons  Doctrinal  and  Practical.  By  th^  Rev.  H.  A.  Atkinson, 
M. A.,  Bector  of  Escomb.    In  two  vols.,  5#.  each. 

The  Child's  Preacher;  or,  the  Gospel  taught  to  Children  in  very 
Simple  Language.  By  the  Hon.  and  Bcv.  L.  BABBmoTON,  M.A.,  Bector 
of  Watton,  Herts.  Second  Edition.  16mo.,  with  a  beautifully  coloured 
Frontispiece  (prepared  expressly  for  this  edition),  2», 

Religion  in  Heart  and  Life  ;  or,  "  The  Fruit  of  the  Spirit.''  By 
the  Bev.  F.  Q.  Baston,  late  Curate  of  Ossett,  near  Wakefield.    8*. 

Gleanings  from  British  and  Irish  Ecclesiastical  History.  By  the 
Hon.  Babbaba  Bedfobd.  One  vol.,  crown  8vo.,  i^ith  an  Engraving  of 
the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Alban,  and  Portrait  of  WicUiffe.    Cloth,  5#.  Sd. 

Bible  Cartoons  for  the  School  and  the  Cottage.  A  suitable  Sunday 
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Blots  on  the  Escutcheon  of  Rome.  A  Brief  History  of  ^  Chief 
Papal  Persecutions.  Edited  by  Miss  Chbibtmas,  Author  of  "  Olendearg 
Cottage,*'  &o.  With  an  Introduction  by  the  Bev.  Hugh  Stowsll^  M  Jk.., 
Hon.  Canon  of  Chester,  &c.    7«.  6^.  cloth. 

Hymns  and  Scripture  Chants,  arranged  according  to  the  Prayer- 
book,  for  Children  of  the  Church  of  England.  With  an  Explanation  of 
difficult  words,  a  simple  Introduction  to  Chanting,  and  a  few  short 
Prayers.  By  the  Bev.  Abnsb  W.  Bbown,  A.M.,  Pytchley,  Northamp- 
tonshire.   Sd. 

A  TextucU  Commentary  on  the  Booh  of  Psalms.   By  H.  N.  Champnet, 

Esq.     Cloth,  Zs. 

The  Church  Catechism  made  Plain,  unth  Texts  of  Scripture,  for 
Schools  and  Young  Persons.  By  the  Bev.  W.  W.  Champnbtb,  Bector  of 
Whitechapel,  and  Canon  of  St.  Paul's.  Sixth  Edition.  Beviscd  and 
Corrected.    6d. 

By  the  same  Author, 

The  Sunday-school  Teacher:  his  Strength,  his  Studies,  and  his 
Duties.    Second  Edition.    2d. 

Floating  Lights.      Second  Edition.     l8mo.,  cloth.  Is.  M. ;  gilt 
edges,  2s. 

Tender  Grass  for  Christ's  Lambs.    Third  Edition.  W. ;  cloth.  Is. 

The  Golden  Cord ;  or,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Chanty.    4d. 


WERTHEIM    AND    MACINTOSH.  S 

The  Child's  Book  of  Homilies,    ^y  Helen  Taylor.   Second  Edition^ 

cloth,  gilt,  If. 
Hie  Christian  Lyre :  a  Selection  of  Religious  and  Moral  Poetry, 

Boyal  82mo.,  cloth,  Ya.  6(1. ;  or  in  morocco,  Zs.  6d. 

The  Coach  Companion  :  a  True  Story.     By  a  Clergtman.     6<2. 

The  Struggles  of  an  Infant  Parish  :  together  with  some  Sermons 
and  Lectures,  delivered  on  particular  oocasiona,  in  the  new  Church 
thereof.  By  the  Kev.  John  Ck)KOB,  M.A.,  Incumbent  of  St.  Simon's, 
Liverpool.    5*. 

Memorials  of  a  Beloved  Mother  :  being  a  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Mrs. 
CooFBB,  Sbter  of  the  late  Eev.  E.  Bickersteth.  By  the  Author  of  the 
**  Memoir  of  John  Lang  Bickersteth."    4r. 

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The  Country  and  London.     A  Tale  for  Little  Boys  and  Oirls.     By 

the  Author  of  "  Aids  to  Development,**  "  Open  and  See,"  &c.,  &c.    With 
Engravings.     28. 

Plain  Sermons.  By  the  Rev.  Edward  Crow,  M.A.,  Incumbent  of 
Tuckingmill,  Cornwall.    Second  Edition.    12mo.,  cloth  lettered,  8«.  6<2. 

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The  Delmar  Family,     A  Peep  into  the  Family  of  Mrs.  Delmar ; 

or,  a  Book  for  Me  and  my  Children  on  National  and  Important  Subjects. 
By  the  Author  of  "  Obedience  the  Ghreat  Lesson.'*     5*. 

Early  Training  ;  or.  Warnings  and  Encouragements  for  Christian 
Parents.     Is. 

The  Early  Dead ;  or.  Our  Loved  and  Lost  Ones.  A  Selection  of 
Poetry ;  to  which  are  added.  Texts  of  Scripture,  and  Extracts  from  the  best 
prose  writers  on  Affliction.     Is. 

The  Life  of  Moses  :  with  the  leading  Incidents  of  IsraeVs  Journey. 
Intended  for  Youth.  By  the  Rev.  Johk  Ellison,  Senior  Curate  of 
Wellingborough.     Cloth,  1*.  W. 

Emily  Bathurst ;  or,  at  Home  and  Abroad.  By  the  Author  of  "  A 
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By  the  same  Author, 
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Fourth  Edition,  stiff  cover,  Gd. ;  or  cloth  lettered,  1*. 
••  A  book  which  may  moit  advantageoiuly  be  pUced  in  the  hands  of  young  women."— 
Church  of  England  Magazine. 

A  Book  for  Wives  and  Mothers.    Second  Edition.    6d.,  or  cloth,  Is. 


<« 


4  WORKS   RECENTLY   PUBLISHED   BY 

Evening  Home  OircU ;  or,  Social  Study  in  the   Gospel  History 

of  the  life  of  our  Lord ;  consisting  of  forty-two  cardi,  accompanied  bj 
Mimprits's  Chart  of  our  Lord's  Life  and  Ministrj.    4ff.  6<<. 

JusHficcfUon  hy  Faith  ;  Cleared  from  Error,  founded  on  Scripture, 
and  built  up  on  the  Tettimonj  of  Protestant  Dirines.  Bj  the  Ber.  Jamxs 
G.  FaithfvlLi  VLA^  Yioar  of  North  Mimma,  Herta.  Foolscap  8to.,  4*.  6d, 

Cottage  Lectures  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches  in  Asia,  By 
the  Ber.  J.  A.  Fxvtok,  M.A.    It. 

First  Steps  to  the  British  Flora  :  arranged  according  to  the  Natural 
Sjstem.  Bj  the  Author  of  "  Wild  Flowers  and  their  I^achingn,  &c." 
6«.  6cf.;  or  in  a  box,  with  Natural  Specimens,  S«.  6d, 

Our  Father  ; "  or,  Jesus  Teaching  to  Pray,  An  Exposition  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  By  the  Ber.  S.  Gasratt.  Cloth,  2a.  6d,;  or,  in  paper 
wrapper,  1#.  6(L 

The  Million-Peopled  City ;  or.  One  Hatfofthe  People  of  London  made 
known  to  the  Other  Hal£  By  the  Be?.  John  Q-axwoop,  M.A.,  Clerical 
Secretary  to  the  London  City  Mission,  and  Editor  of  **  Hie  London  City 
Mission  Magaiine.'*    4ff.  6d. 

The  Eevelation  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  ffistorkally 
and  Critically  Interpreted;  in  which  the  principal  subjects  treated 
originally  are— 

8.  The  Second  Angel  of  Chap.  xiy.  8. 

9.  The  Vintage. 

10.  The  Latter  Part  of  the  Sixth  Yial, 
the  Gathering  at  Armageddon. 

11.  The  Last  Head  of  the  Wild-Beaat 
not  the  Pope. 

12.  The  Angel  standing  in  the  Sun. 

13.  The  Beicn  of   the    Saints    with 
Christ  a  Thousand  Tean. 

14.  The  New  HeaTen  and  Earth,  and 
the  New  Jerusalem. 


1.  The  JEra  of  the  Fifth  Seal 

2.  The  Fulfilment  of  the  Latter  Part 

of  the  Sixth,  the  Four  Winds,  and 
the  Sealing. 

8.  The  Whole  Interpretation  of  the 
Serenth,  Silence  m  Heaven,  &c. 

4.  The  Stars  Cast  Down. 

6.  The  Woman  Flying  into  the  Wil- 
derness. 

6.  The  Flood  from  the  Mouth  of  the 

Serpent. 

7.  The  Image  of  the  Wild-Beast. 


To  which  is  added,  a  Chronological  Synopsis  in  the  fonn  of  a  Chart.  By 
the  Rev.  Philip  Gsli^  M.A.,  late  Rural  Dean  of  the  District  of  Derbj, 
in  the  Diocese  of  Lichfield.  In  two  thick  Tolumes,  12mo.,  price  1^  cloth 
lettered. 

Oood  out  of  EvU :  or,  the  History  of  Adjai,  the  African  Slave  Boy  : 
an  Authentic  Biography  of  the  Rer.  S.  Crowther,  Nattre  Missionary  in 
Abbeokuta,  West  Afirica.  Edited  by  the  Rer.  C.  F.  Ceildb.  With  a 
Map,  2f . 

Grace  Overton  ;  or,  the  Service  of  the  Heart.  With  Engravings. 
18mo.,  doth.  It.  6d.